Monday Bookworms: Vampires & Salinger

Twilight, Stephanie Meyer

498 pages @2005

OK, so I know that I have been MIA from my blog and this book, no this series, is the reason why. IT IS SO ADDICTING!!!

When my new co-worker started 6-8 weeks ago she recommended the series to me and brought the first book in the series in for me, therefore making it more likely I would read it. I had a gazillion books home from the library that I needed to get through before I could pick this up. Finally once I finished all the library books I decided I would just read this real quick so I could return it to Christina.

I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. Twilight is the story of Bella Swan. She moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington (?) to live with her dad because her mom is getting remarried. On the first day of school she sees Edward Cullen from afar and is instantly drawn to him. She doesn't understand his hositility to her at first but then as she discovers what he is she begins to understand. But can she help herself from falling in love with him? Even though she knows his secret?

This is totally a PG romance novel for tweens (at least so far...). Meyer's writing is not at all impressive and I found the 1st book a little repititive at times but her storytelling is pretty addicting. She's certainly weaved a good story, one that keeps you turning the pages, and continuing on with the series.

I'm currently on book 3 and hoping to finish the 4th book by this weekend. Then you'll have my take on the entire series (so far I can say that each book is getting better in my opinion.) I would recommend the series, especially as a good summer, brain break.

4 Stars


Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
202 pages, @1961

On to more literary books! Franny and Zooey was Emily's book group pick for May. I was excited to pick it up because I'd read Catcher in the Rye and remember liking it so I was looking forward to getting to read Salinger again.

The book is broken down into two shorter stories. The first story, titled Franny, takes place in a small college town. Franny is meeting her boyfriend Lane Coutell for lunch and a football game. However, over lunch as she listens to him talk on and on about his most recent essay that he's written, she begins to have an unexplained mental breakdown.

In the second story, titled Zooey, Franny is back at home at The Glass Family home in NYC. Zooey, one of her older brothers, and Bessie, her mother, are trying to figure out how they can help Franny. During this part of the book you get a lot of background information on The Glass Family.

This was definitely a piece of literature. One that at times I felt was a bit over my head. I was glad that I was able to make it to book group to discuss the book because I felt it helped me to understand it better. Themes in Salingers's book are: family, defining moments in life, intellectuals, religion and perhaps even the meaning of life.

We all agreed during our discussion that the character of Zooey was probably an accurate portrayl of Salinger himself. And while I didn't love the book, I definitely would be curious to read, The Nine, by Salinger. I've heard that some of the short stories in that book are about The Glass Family and I'd be curious to learn more.

3 Stars


Post in Comments:

Have you read the Twilight Series? If so, what did you think of it?

Have you read Franny & Zooey? Which character did you like best?

Catch-All-Fridays: East End Bar Review

As you know from my bar review of Donnybrook a couple of weeks back, I'm part of this group called ABC Club NYC. This is my review of our "E Bar" which was East End Bar and Grill on the Upper East Side.

The place was a decent size and we had this little section up in the front to ourselves. We didn't get as big a crowd as we had when we hit up the bars in midtown and downtown. People felt the Upper East Side was a bit far.

While the atmosphere of the bar itself isn't anything to write home about their drink specials certainly are. Every Thursday you can pay $15 and have an open bar from 7-10PM. Granted the open bar only consists of Bud Light and Well Drinks. But hey, I'm a Bud Light kinda of girl, so this is my kind of deal!

They have a juke box and so there is always a good selection of music playing and it definitely gets more crowded the later it gets. I wouldn't go out of my way to go hear again but if I found myself on the UES on a Thursday night I would certainly take advantage of the drink specials.

For more information you can click here to visit their website.

East End Bar & Grill
1664 First Avenue (between 86th and 87th Street)
New York City, NY 10028
(212) 348-3783

Entertainment Thursday: Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

@ 1992

Randomly Jon and I got this movie off our Netflix queue. OK well, it wasn't that random, I mean I had put it in our queue, but it was pretty random we chose to watch it.

I had remembered hearing about it in high school and I remember the soundtrack well! I was excited as I felt this was kind of a movie that everyone my generation had seen.

Boy, was it bizarre. Essentially the plot is that this group of men are going to rob a jewelry store and something goes wrong, the cops come, people die and a few of them end back at the meeting spot. Everyone jumps to conclusions and it's basically a long drawn out conversation with flashbacks as to what they should do next.

I can't say that I really enjoyed it necessarily while we were watching. There were a lot of long drawn out scenes and at times I was like, "What is the point of this movie?" But the ending was so enjoyable...in a weird way...but I liked the way it ended and it brought the whole movie together for me. So I found that redeeming. I can't say that I would outrightly recommend it but I'd be curious to hear what other people thought of this movie (Quentin Tarantino's first!)

3 Stars

Post in Comments:

Have you seen Reservoir Dogs?

Did you like it?

Foodie Wednesday: Cooking Light Cinnamon Raspberry Muffins

(Muffins in the pan having just come out of the oven!)

My friend Christina had a housewarming party in early May for her new condo! I offered to bring something and immediately decided on Cooking Light's Raspberry-Filled Cinnamon Muffins. These are a family favorite and I've been making them for years. This seemed like the perfect excuse to make some!

(A View of the Muffin broken open - see the raspberry jam in the center - YUM!)

These are really easy to make. I made a double batch and it took me about an hour overall. They are delicious, freeze well, and make a great breakfast or snack!

Raspberry-Filled Cinnamon Muffins

(The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook @ 2000)

1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup low-fat or nonfat buttermilk

1/4 cup stick margarine or butter, melted

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Cooking Spray

1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves

1 tablesppon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, margarine, and egg; add to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

3. Sppon about 1 tablesppon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Spoon 1 teaspoon preserves into center of each muffin cup (do not spread over batter), and top with remaining batter.

4. Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; place on a wide rack. Yeild: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin).

Post in Comments:

What is your favorite kind of muffin?

Tuesday Travels: Biking Around NYC

(Jon on the West Side Highway path - with Jersey in the background!)

One of the items on our list of things to do in NYC was to bike around the entire island of Manhattan. Now we didn't quiet accomplish that on Sunday, April 26th when we headed up to the Upper East Side to rent bikes & helmets, but we still had fun. We rented our bikes from Bike Heaven on East 62nd between 2nd and 1st. It didn't take that long and we were off on our way.

I'm not an incredibly strong biker, I probably bike once a year, and it's always a challenging experience for me, yet I continue to suggest these crazy bike riding ideas and end up doing them. Last year when we biked Valley Forge (another one of my crazy ideas that almost got us killed when our bus driver dropped us off in the wrong spot on the side of an almost highway that we had to cross...but that's another story for another time) I broke the bike (chain fell off) and didn't learn how to use the gears until we were almost done (and let me tell you those hills at Valley Forge without bike gears - really tough!)

So needless to say, you can imagine how nervous I was about biking in NYC. I informed Jon that I was going to walk my bike to the path about 3 blocks away along the river because I wasn't comfortable riding next to the taxis on 2nd Avenue. He met me there opting to ride.

(Me at the top of the stairs on the East Side River after we carried our bikes up - Roosevelt Island is behind me - I think!)

We biked up the east river to about 116th street where the path ended. We opted to just go straight across the island as opposed to going North and going all the way around. I made it across the island biking in the road with the cars although it wasn't nearly as congested up at 116th street. When we got to the West Side Highway or River Side Park we biked down to about 67th street.

At that time we decided to be adventurous because Jon really wanted to bike in Central Park. We biked part way across Manhattan in a pretty congested area to Central Park and entered at 72nd Street (and yes, we survived and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be but I was also feeling more comfortable on the bike having been on it for about 2 hours). We biked down Central Park and exited on the Southeast corner and then rode in the streets again heading back to the bike shop.

It was definitely an adventure. It was such a great way to see NYC in a different way. It was calming, relaxing, there were a ton of other people out on the paths enjoying the perfect NY day, and we just really loved every minute of it.

Next time I think we're going to rent bikes down by the Seaport and bike along the path towards the Southern part of the island! I'll make sure to blog and let you know how it goes....:)

Post in Comments:

Have you ever biked in NYC? Do you enjoy it or find it hectic?

What is your favorite bike route?

Bookworm Monday: Tom Wolfe & Jodi Picoult

The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe

685 Pages, copyright 1987

Ahhh...at long last (and a good 3 months late) I finish the New Classics Reading Challenge. The Bonfire of the Vantities was the 6th (and final) book that I read for my very first Reading Challenge. Even though I finished late, I finished. The New Classics Reading Challenge was the reason I picked up this book, although it has always been on my list of "must read" books.

The Bonfire of the Vanities takes place in New York City in the 1980's. It follows Sherman McCoy, a bond tradesman, at Pierce & Pierce; Peter Fallow, a British ex-patriate, who works for The City Lights, a local tabloid newspaper; Larry Kramer, an assistant district attorney in the Bronx; and Reverand Reginald Bacon an activist.

One incident that occurs in the book will bind all of these characters together. Bonfires of the Vanities tackles the issues of GREED, social class, racism and ambition. The title literally means a huge fire of the vanities/conceits of all the characters in the book. I don't want to say what the incident is because I do not want to give away too much of what happens, so you'll just have to read the book to find out.

I have only read Tom Wolfe one time prior to this, I Am Charlotte Simmons. Wolfe's strength is taking everyday life and filling it with the most despicable, unsympathetic characters. There are few characters I have hated more than Wolfe's. He takes it to excess.

The first half of this book Wolfe works in great details to build these characters, to make you the reader understand each of them and what makes them tick. Then the incident occurs and the book really takes off. While I criticized what I felt was his excessive character development I understood why he did it as I was reading the 2nd half of the book.

I felt that the 2nd half of the book redeemed itself. Wolfe certainly makes you think. When everyone's motives are wrong then who is right? How many of us every given day are motivated by truly selfless motives? What would we have done if we were in the shoes of any of these different characters (well, I hope a lot - because like I said they were pretty despicable!)

Overall, I would say this book is a take it or leave it purely based on the length. It was a long haul and a real commitment to read and I'm not sure at the end I was satisfied. I was certainly happy that I had read Wolfe's most beloved and well known novel but I can't say I would enthusiastically recommend it. If you told me you were reading it though I'd be interested to discuss it with you.

3 Stars


Perfect Match, Jodi Picoult
352 pages, copyright 2002

I decided it was time to pick up another Jodi Picoult book because I hadn't read her in awhile.

The premise of Perfect Match is, Nathaniel Frost, a 5-year old boy, is sexually molested and his parents decide to take justice for their son into their own hands. The book makes you question what makes a good parent and what would you or wouldn't you do to protect your child?

I did not think that this was one of Picoult's stronger novels. I just felt too much happened, once you got over one hurdle something else went wrong and so on and so forth. Most things that went wrong centered around the mother, Nina Frost. She was not a sympathetic character and it was hard for me to get behind some of the decisions she made. I found her incredibly selfish, claiming to do the things she was doing for her son, but it seemed like she was doing them more for herself and what she could and could not live with. Now granted I'm not a mother so maybe I would have felt differently if I had a 5 year old son and I was reading this novel.

In addition, I found child molestation a very difficult topic to read about. It's not very uplifting and you really do not want to know the details. Thankfull Picoult was not too graphic. I will also say that I was displeased with the ending of this book...but I won't say more about that because I do not want to give it away.

With all that said I did not hate the book. I thought her writing was strong and she once again tackled a very timely issue. This book was published in 2002 during the Catholic Church scandal. I would not outright recommend it but if you were to pick it up I wouldn't say it was a bad read, it was just OK.

3 stars

Post in Comments:

Have you read Tom Wolfe? Do you like his writing style?

What's your favorite Jodi Picoult book?

Catch-All Fridays: Running Challenge

Man oh man, lesson learned. Last week I was so excited to blog about the show Castle and I had just seen the movie 17 Again so I decided to just blog twice on Entertainment Thursday leaving me where this Thursday - nowhere - becuase I had no fun entertainment news to share, no new movie reviews, nothin'. Lesson learned, next time I'll just share one and save the other for later! I'm watching a movie tonight though so I'll definitely have a movie review for next Thursday.

Running Challenge

Ok, Ok I'll admit it I've totally let my stress fracture from almost two years ago and the fact that I say I don't like running in NYC ruin my running stride. So I'm setting a running challenge for myself to keep me motivated and to get back into the running shape I used to be in. So here it is:

There are 35 weeks left in the year and if I average 15 miles running per week then I will top 500 miles for the year (not including miles I've already logged).

I am going to sign up for at least 4 road races between now and the end of the year, starting possibly with the Mother's Day run at 8AM in Central Park next Sunday - 4 miles - totally doable although it may not be pretty! My friend Shi is running and I'm thinking I may join her as long as my mother doesn't have early morning plans for us all that day.

I will run in new places in NYC (ie: around the reservoir in Central Park, finally do the full 6+mile loop in CP, run North along the East River instead of always running south, run North along the West Side Highway, etc). I'm going to explore.

I'll post reviews of any new routes that I try and let you know what I think. Maybe just maybe by the time I leave this city for the suburbs I'll be converted to a runner who loves running in NYC (doubtful but I'm keeping an open mind).

Post in Comments:

How do you keep yourself motivated with your running?

PS - Shi, I might steal your idea of running on Roosevelt Island. I've always wanted to go over there but never had a reason to. Maybe running around RI will be one of my new routes!