The Lovely Bones

I feel like I've been slacking on my reading lately...which I probably have been. I've been trying to fit it in, but sometimes I just get wrapped up and don't get to it or there are other things that need to be done. And in my defense, some of that would-have-been reading time was spent trying to get back into a workout routine! But, enough excuses, let's get this ball rolling!

Hmmm...what to say, well, I should probably start (I suppose) by letting you know that over the holiday weekend I finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. This book was different for me because while I always try (key word: try) to read a book before I see it's corresponding movie, this time I had actually seen the movie first. It's been a while since I saw it (last summer maybe?) but I still remembered quite a bit of it. I can't say whether that played to it's advantage or not.

I loved the book, and I think that the characters and their development where great. There were places where the jumps between years and between Earth and Heaven might have been a bit confusing. It was at these times that I think having seen the movie helped me. But there was a catch-22 (of course). Having seen the movie, I already had an idea of what someone else imagined the characters and the scenes to look like. There were certainly parts of the book that I didn't remember from the movie. I liked imagining my own scene, but I'm not sure that I liked the fact that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't create my own Susie, I could only see the girl cast to play her in the movie...Okay, I think I'm getting off topic.

For those of you who haven't read the book, Susie is a high school girl just like every other girl, kind of awkward but still fitting-in in her own special way. On her way home from school one day she takes a short cut through the corn field between her house and the school. Her creepy neighbor is waiting for her and has built a fort under ground which he coaxes her into. The rest of the story is what's happening in her Heaven but also what she sees happening on Earth. There's the search for any clues about Susie disappearance, which leads into the lives of some of her classmates (including the boy who wrote her a love note the day she disappeared). The side stories and the creative telling of each person's piece in the larger story of Susie Salmon (like the fish) is intriguing and keeps the reader hanging on to each character.

Over-all I think this is a great book and would gladly recommend it!

Check back soon! The Phantom of the Opera is next!

P.S. Who is excited for Harry Potter 7 part II?!?!? (Not that it will ever be as good as the book, but it's gotta be half-way decent, right?)