Karen Rita Rautenberg

51/365 - Karen Rita Rautenberg
Originally uploaded by kelsokraft

Today at Barnes & Noble, Clarissa met an author, her name is Karen Rita Rautenberg and she has written her sophmore book entitled: Ballerina Detective. Clarissa spoke with the author and got her to sign her book.

She is a mature woman, so she gives me hope that it isn't too late for me to get my novel written.

Clarissa really liked her and they talked for a long time. They talked about what kind of books Clarissa like to read and how Clarissa also wants to be a writer. It was mostly a one on one discussion as she wrapped up by the time we got there, and the other kids there didn't seem to be interested.

I suppose Clarissa was trying to get some inspiration to rub off on her.

2010 Movie Challenge / January Movies

Movie Challenges

I watch a lot of movies, the problem is, I don't watch a lot of different genres. I've seen Musicals and Bio Pics, but I've decided, in order to really learn to appreicate different genres, I need to immerse myself for one month in a genre. This doesn't mean that I only watch that genre for the month. However, I have given my self the goal of one movie per week(end). February has 4 weekends, so I should be able to watch at least 4 Classics.

January had 5 weekends, but I managed to exceed my goal.

January was Foreign movie month. I managed to watch six foreign movies that month. Last year in January, I watched 0.

February is Classics month. I do watch a lot of classics throughout the year. I think maybe for this one, I'll concentrate on a decade. Looking through one of my many spreadsheets, I see that the 40's lead the pack with approx 103 movies (lifetime). Followed by the 50s with about 93 movies and then the 30s with 90 movies. The next is the 60s with a measly 62 movies, and at the back of the pack is from the advent of film to 1929, which only has 10 movies. I only like certain silent films.

For February I will work on watching more Classic films from the 1960s.

January
Genre: Foreign
Watched: 6

February
Genre: Classics
Era: 1960s

March
Genre: Religious
For Easter

April
Genre: Period Pieces

May
Genre: Musical

June
Genre: Bio Pics

July
Genre: Classics
Era: TBA

August
Genre: Doumentary

September
Genre: Foreign

October
For Halloween
Genre: Horror

November
For Thanksgiving/Christmas
Genre: Holiday

December
For Christmas
Genre: Holiday


* * *

January Movies = 35

Ratings out of 5 stars

Sherlock Holmes ****
Food Matters ***
Unconquered ***
La Strada (Italian) ****
Night at the Museum 2 ***
Black Girl (French) ****
42nd Street ***
Poirot: Cards on the Table ****
District 9 ***
Fear and Trembling (French/Japanese) ****
From the Terrace ***
The Final Destination ***
Confessions of a Shopaholic ***
The International ***
The Chorus (French) ****
The Book of Eli ****
Catch 22 ***
The Lovely Bones ***
Juliet of the Spirits (Italian) ***
Angels & Demons ***
I Can Do Bad All By Myself ***
The Backwoods ***
Sweet Misery ***
Feast of All Saints ****
Legion ****
Fame (2009) ***
Return to Cranford ****
Vatel ***
Surrogates ***
The Spy Next Door ***
The Bad Sleep Well (Japanese) ***
The Europeans ***
The Magic of Ordinary Days ****
Saw VI ***
Julie & Julia ***

January Reads

1. The Jeruselum Diet (audio) - Ted Haggard
2. The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great - Benjamin Merkle
3. Once Upon a Summer (audio) - Jeannette Oke
4. Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure - James Scott Bell
5. The Life and Death of Harriet Frean - May Sinclair
6. The Rats in the Walls (short fiction) - HP Lovecraft
7. Password Incorrect - Nick Name
8. Serial - Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn
9. The Dunwich Horror - HP Lovecraft
10. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List - Shelley Mosley

Once Upon a Summer (Seasons of the Heart #1) by Janette Oke

The Year of the Historical
January 2010

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Once Upon a Summer (Seasons of the Heart #1) by Janette Oke
Inspirational Historical Fiction – Era 1930’s America

Josh Jones is a 12 years old orphan. He lives on a farm with his Grandfather, his Uncle Charlie and his 18 year old Auntie Lou. Josh is just a regular kid who loves to catch fish at the creek (or crick). His happy days are threatened when he learns his great-grandfather will come to live with them, and even more threatened when he learns that his grandfather and Uncle Charlie are looking to marry off his Auntie Lou, the only mother he’s known.

Josh wants none of it; his only desire is a dog, not an extended family. Life on the farm for a 12 year old is tough, but Josh does his chores and lives life to the fullest. He’s known so much sadness and he gets heaps more in this installment. However, he also gets a lot of happiness, more than he could have hoped for.

Josh learns that sometimes what we wish for is not what we need.

I laughed and cried and was thoroughly entertained by this book. There are 3 more to the series and I will work my way through them.

I usually don’t read historical fiction from this time period and especially books that have a rural setting. This book was recommended to me, and I had it for about a year before I started on it.

I recommend this to anyone who likes inspirational and/or coming of age fiction of a historical nature.

More Interesting Stats

13/365 - Kindle
Originally uploaded by kelsokraft

I keep a detailed spreadsheet of the books I read and movies I watch. The book list consists of title, name, genre, pages, if it is a new or classic book, if it is audio or owned or library, date started, date finished, grade.

I wanted to see the average time it takes me to read a book. It turns out for last year, it took me an average of 7.81 days to read a book. With the lowest number being 0 and the highest being 38 days.

Then I added it to see how many days it took me to read all of these books. That came to 602 days. I thought this was incorrect as that would be about 2 3/4 years, but I then manually added it and it is still 602.

I read more than one book at a time, and that is probably why it is way over 1 year. I wonder if I read them back to back would it take me 2 3/4 years to read them?

I didn't bother to clock audio hours this year, because some of these books like "A Tale of Two Cities" took about 38 hours. All together I listened to approx 209 hours of audo books.

That is RIDUNKULOUS!!!!!!!

Stats & another foreign movie

Got this idea from ItsjustmeWendy

79 Books read in 2009

44 books were fiction
11 were auto/biography or memoir
23 were non fiction
1 book was a play
I read 20 female authors (with a couple of books by the same author)
13 of these books were about religion or had heavy religious overtones
14 were Classics
5 related to health
11 were audiobooks
11 were on my Kindle
37 were library borrows (hard copies not audio)
16 were owned by me
16 were New releases
2 were over 500 pages
8 were historical fiction
5 Books about Christmas



Fear and Trembling (2003)
Stupeur et Tremblements
Japanese/French
107 minutes

In search of a new beginning, Amélie moves from Belgium back to her early-childhood home of Japan, where she starts working full time for a large corporation. But life as a foreigner proves difficult to navigate -- and Eastern office etiquette is nothing like what she's used to. French director helms this Tokyo-based dramedy adapted from the autobiographical novel by Amélie Nothomb.

Amélie gets a job where she does nothing, the Japanese don't trust a westerner. When she is given a task she is not equiped to do, all hell breaks loose. Her immediate supevisor, a beautiful Japanese woman, turns into a major bitch, and her not so immediate supervisors are no bowl of cherries either. How she deals with it, is spot on.

Even if you don't like foreign movies, you can't help but to like this one.

4/5 stars.

The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great

The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin Merkle

Alfred the Great was one of the greatest monarchs in English history. This book goes into some detail about the rise of this remarkable king and how he changed England forever. Merkle cites a lot of material from other sources, it seems to give this book a feel of a compilation. However, it is a pleasant and riveting read.

Merkle delves into Alfred’s formative years and goes through the years as he becomes king. He explains how he merged the Anglo-Saxons against the Vikings who were very brutal. We could feel Alfred the Great's love for God and his struggle to help others feel the same love. He knew his faith would get him through any hurdle he would encounter. He succeeded in reforming the legal system, helped his fellow countrymen become more literate and restored Christianity during a war torn time in English history.

This was a fast paced book that read like a novel, but will want you leaving more. What a different world we might have if there were no Alfred the Great. I think anyone who enjoys biographies, ancient history and books about war will love this one.