Talking About...Brad Pitt

It's Thursday again! I must say that I love looking for interesting people to talk about! This week we are going to talk about a man who is uber famous. Although he doesn't owe his career to big book to movie adaptations, he still has several of them on his resume!

So I give you all... Brad Pitt!

Born: William Bradly Pitt ( um, swoon! )

DOB: December 18, 1963

Born: Shawnee Oklahoma

Because of the amount of movies he has starred in I just want to focus on his book to movies...

In 1994, Interview With a Vampire was Pitt's first book to movie adaptation and it is one of my favorite movies he has ever been in. We got to see him star opposite Tom Cruise who played the vampire Lestat and Pitt played the wonderfully tortured Louis.

"Fame makes you feel permanently like a girl walking past construction workers"  -Brad Pitt

In 1996, Pitt was in the all star cast of the movie Sleepers based on the crime drama thriller book by Lorenzo Carcaterra.

In 1996, Pitt starred in the movie Seven Years in Tibet, based on the book written by Heinrich Harrer. The story chronicles the seven years Harrer spent in Tibet mentoring the Dali Lama on western civilization.

He is banned from entering China because of the role he played in this movie.

The year 1999 brought Pitt a movie that was an instant cult classic and to this day is still quoted all over the place. Fight Club was based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk. The book and movie are both a drama that focuses on a man who is tired of his upper middle class American lifestyle and searches for change in the crazy man that is Tyler Durden.

"Hey, you created me. I didn't create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better. Take some responsibility!" -Tyler Durden in Fight Club

Confessions of A Dangerous Mind  came out in 2002. The book was written by Chuck Barris and is an autobiography about his crazy life. The book raised many interesting questions, one of the more popular ones was.. Was the creator of the Gong Show a hit man for the CIA? Although Pitt was not a star in this film, I believe that it still needs to be recognized.

He made a cameo appearance in this film for free for his buddy George Clooney

In 2004, Pitt took the lead in Troy, a movie based off of Homer's epic tale of the Trojan War. Pitt played the Hero Achilles, the son of Thetis and a mortal man.

Pitt actually tore his Achilles tendon during the production of Troy...IRONY

 In 2005 Pitt played the role of a undercover spy, John Smith who is married to another undercover spy, Jane Smith in the aptly named movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The book by Cathy East Dubowski was actually based on the movie! That would be what...Art imitating Art, right?

In 2007 Pitt played the lead in the movie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ( say that ten times fast ). The movie was based on the same titled book by Ron Hansen. Pitt played Jesse James at the end of the his "career."

In 2007 Pitt helped bring F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to the big screen. The story is about a man who lives life in reverse.

 "You know, I telephoned my grandparents the other day, and my grandfather said to me, "We saw your movie." "Which one?" I said, and he shouted, "Betty, what was the name of that movie I didn't like?" I thought that was just classic. I mean, if that doesn't keep your feet on the ground, what would?" -Brad Pitt

In 2011 Pitt starred in the mega hit movie based on a book by Michael Lewis called, Moneyball. The story is about a man who wants to take a below average baseball team and make them great.

In 2013 Pitt is set to be in another cult hit book to movie adaptation in World War Z. The story takes first hand accounts of how they lived though the Zombie war and the lengths that they went through in order to survive. The book is a chronicle of sorts that takes you from the first outbreak to the aftermath of how the world is now in. I have high hopes for this movie and can not wait to see Pitt and the role he plays in it.

I hope that this has gotten you to think about books that you have not thought about in a while or maybe it will get you interested in something new that you have not read! Either way, we see how books continue to bring life to so many things. Happy Thursday to you all!

And like always.... Just for fun!

-Lisa :)

Tangle of Need, A Review

Nalini Singh has grown and developed as an author to an astounding degree. Tangle of Need is a complex tangle of desire, characters, emotions and plots. In the first books in the Psy/Changeling Series Ms Singh created a rich, lush environment. A world in the beginning of dissent. The characters were just starting to question the way things were. No longer quite satisfied with the status quo but really only willing to fight for themselves and their families. They did not see a need to fight for the world. As story has grown so too have her books.

Her world building in place we see a new capacity for storytelling. It started in Kiss of Snow. A book that was not just a one storyline book. It told us about the lives of our lead characters and more importantly about the lives of the people around them. The people that affected them and yes the people that wanted to see them destroyed. We got teeny peeks into the minds of those both good and evil. In Tangle of Need this style of writing grows. There is just so much more we need to know. Things we may not have been aware that we needed but now can not believe that this was out there. The power of this book goes beyond a strong main couple.

Riaz is a lone wolf who has come home to lick his wounds, the unimaginable has happened! He has met his mate and she is not only married, happily married she is irrevocably in love with her husband. Riaz can see the link just watching them. Amazing as they are both full humans. Not knowing what else to do he comes home. And yet even with the pack he is a lone wolf and unable to share. Unable to let those who care for him know what he needs, how they can help him. He is little wolf lost..

Adria, a strong dominant female whose self esteem has been battered. Betrayed on the most personal level. Her less dominant lover has spent years picking at her destroying her in a bloodless manner. Abuse at it’s finest. She too has come home to find herself. To remember that he failed.. that she needs to immerse herself in pack to become the woman she always saw herself as.  She knew something was wrong but she believed in the relationship, she was committed to make it work. On several levels, one she believed in keeping commitments made, another well her family warned her and so no way did she want to admit they were right and finally, she knew if she didn’t put her all into it she would look back one day and say what if I had.. It’s a hard thing to describe accurately a strong woman who becomes a victim. Outsiders can not understand what this does to her. They know the strong independent spirit who can scale mountains both proverbially and literally. They can not conceive that someone could suck the esteem right out of them. Ms Singh writes this character brilliantly. Tough, strong, determined to do it on her own. An I’ll show them attitude. Angry not at the man who abused her but at herself for not walking away sooner. But the worst thing about such a woman is her inability to trust. The barriers that she builds.. Always wanting to be the most important person in someone’s life and never trusting that she will be.

There was so much going on in this book aside from Adria and Riaz’s relationship. We see a lot of Hawke and Sienna. Of course the ever luscious Judd is there. We get glimpses of Sascha but almost no Lucas, little of Mercy, even less of Dorian and none of Faith. I think this is the one aspect that bothers me about the direction this series has taken. It’s more about the wolves (whom I adore) than about the Leopards.. whom I also adore. It’s almost like Hawke is the more important Alpha that Lucas is no longer needed. I miss Lucas and the play between his Sentinels. I am sure Ms Singh has a plan. Shoot I know she has a plan.. After listening to her speak at RT, I am convinced she knows exactly what steps she is taking and where we are going. I just wish she would share with us faster.

The plot is an intricate dance between the factors, The Changelings, the Psy both good and bad.. yes my friends I said good Psy.. they are there and the Alliance. An ever fluent dance of dominance and world control. One misstep can get you killed. I loved it! Was totally absorbed by the ever changing moods of this book.

To me the love story between Riaz and Adria was more powerful because it was set against a backdrop of war. And yet, there was time for them to find each other, learn each other and slowly love each other. It was also a book about choices. What choices should be made, what choices could be made and what choices would be made. This was an EPIC story.. amazing as it was about two characters that we pretty much had never seen before. Mere hints in previous books. Although there are so many other characters I want to know about.

We see the ghost.. no, we don’t see who he/she is.. although I have switched my opinion of who I thought it was.. I think my choice is too focused on some other plot, other intrigues to be the ghost. I think he (yes my choice was a he) wants to rule the Psy and I don’t think that the ghost does. Although some of the other options are too well known to Judd to be the ghost.. so it circles back to my first choice. Ms Singh has promised us that the ghost was determined well before her stories were written. That she knew from the beginning who the ghost is. There will not be a chance for us to go back and question the integrity of the story.. So I am excited.

Also, we get to know Vasic and Aden much better.. these two Arrows must have a story all but screaming to be told. Then there is an entire new set of changelings we get to meet.. And Bowen makes a wonderful appearance. There is just so much going on in this book and yet the struggles of Adria and Riaz are ever front and center. As it’s about the wolves and not the leopards it doesn’t have that sensual decadence I delighted in with the leopards. But I always thought that remained a cat characteristic and didn’t belong in the wolf books. They have their own strong, desirable traits.

I could go on and on about this book. Shoot I have.. what I will say is Ms Singh does it again and this is by far her best Psy/Changeling book to date.

Shauni

The Character Complex: Georgina Kincaid

"Succubus (n) - An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men."

"Pathetic (adj.) - A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid."




In the early 5th century in Cyprus, Georgina was a mortal woman who was too tall, not the prettiest girl and she had a filthy mouth. On top of that, she always said what was on her mind and for a woman in her time it was just unheard of.  She was lucky that she met a man who loved all of those things about her. One night while her husband was away, she makes one of the dumbest decisions of her life and betrays her husband. Not being able to live with the guilt of what she has done and the grief she has caused the man she loves, Georgina calls on something evil to try to make things right.


In an act of recompense, Georgina agrees to sell her soul and become a Succubus, an immortal being employed by hell itself.  To sustain her immortality in Seattle's demon underground, Georgina transforms herself into any figure she fancies and sucks away the souls of men (and the occasional woman), during sex.  The more wholesome the soul, the higher and longer-lasting the fix.  As deplorable as it sounds, Georgina hates this job.  Her daytime job working as a cashier at a bookstore is much more rewarding, but if she slows down in the submission of souls, her demon superior and John-Cusack lookalike, Jerome, won't hesitate to heap on the threats and remind her who's in charge.


 Life isn't easy when you are a succubus who just wants to be in love. Night after night she must "feed" in order to stay alive and to make Jerome, and more importantly hell,  happy. The more souls she takes, the bigger the hole in her heart grows, knowing that she will never have what she had with her husband again. Who wants to live forever, when you are so pathetic and lonely?


In this precious "downtime" at the bookstore, Georgina is able to behave as any stable working woman, at least from 9-5, surrounded by her love of books and an unending access to all the white chocolate mocha's her nerves can stomach.  In an inadvertent, swoon-worthy encounter with a customer, we are introduced to Seth Mortensen, author extraordinaire and Georgina's fan-girl obsession.  To say Seth changes Georgina's life is putting it mildly.  He is her personal impetus from that moment on.  Little does he know that to love Georgina is to immerse yourself in supernatural entanglements. 

Falling in love with Seth is just about the worst complication any Succubus can undertake.  Georgina knows this, her faithful circle of immortal friends (2 vampires, an imp, her demon-boss and the most contradictory of them all, a Heaven-sent, honest to goodness angel named Carter) know this, but their immediate attraction, the blossoming of their feelings into something so much more profound...well...it will not be denied.  


Not without its complications, this relationship will suffer unparallelled highs and lows.  As desirable as they find each other, Georgina will not make love with Seth for fear of taking even an increment off his life.  In the meantime, please recall, Georgina has to sustain her immortality and those sworn commitments to hell....you see the dilemma?? 

Georgina's heart breaks every time she has to feed herself. The need to be monogamous with Seth nearly overrides the need to survive. Georgina is always at war with herself. A succubus in a relationship is unheard of. Seth, the amazing man that he is, insists that it is not cheating. She is simply doing what she must do in order to live. The guilt, however, never goes away.  

During the wonderful time that we get to know the many "incarnations" of Georgina, she falls in love, gets her heart broken, falls in love again gets a taste of what it used to be like to be mortal, and oh yeah, saves the day, A LOT!  Georgina always does what she feels is right. Even if it hurts her in the process. For a creature of hell, she really is an angel. The things that Georgina has had to endure would have made most people or creatures, seek an ending. 

The Succubus series by Richelle Mead is an intense love story.  Georgina and Seth make impossible sacrifices while exploring creative options to thrive in their relationship.  Just when you think their desire is all-consuming and they're bound to rid themselves of boundaries, unmitigated restraint sets in and cooler heads prevail.  Torturous, yes, but you revel in their unconventional love story and applaud their faith in one other.  This series is simply sublime.

To  say that Georgina is "complex" is just not a big enough word. She wears so many hats that it is sometimes impossible to keep up. But in a wonderful way. She is a co-worker, detective, groupie, fan , seductress, lover and most importantly, a friend. Although Georgina sold her soul to hell, she believes that doesn't mean she has to be evil. This is what makes Georgina so wonderfully complex and such a great character. You fall in love with her because she is undeniably real. She could easily be your neighbor or sit next to you at work. She is just a woman who made a mistake and has paid for it over many lifetimes. 

When you decide to take the leap and fall in love with a succubus you can find all there is to know about Georgina, here. Your heart will be forever changed.






We look forward to future discussions about Georgina and her crazy life!


 Carmen & Lisa
     

ManCandy Monday Blog Hop #13

Crystal, Lily and I plan to continue the ManCandy Monday Blog Hop.  Our Man Candy post with link will be posted Sunday night (but our links will be ready on Tuesday, just check out the side bars to find them) so you have from Tuesday until 11:59pm the following Monday to link up.

<a href="http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/Shauni_45/Tea%20and%20Books/?action=view&current=handservice-1-1-2-1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/Shauni_45/Blog%20Hops/ManCandyBlogHopBadge2-2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>"</

This man is just too Beautiful not to enjoy!! So I am dedicating today to Shemar

 

And as always make sure you get to the other blogs on the hop!!

Beautiful Sacrifice, A Review

Elizabeth Lowell writes with a gritty edge, it doesn’t matter if she is writing about the American West or stories steeped in Medieval lore, she wraps her sensual delight with gritty undertones of what is going on around the characters. But when she stepped into romantic suspense, Ms Lowell hit her stride.. Whether it be the Donovans and yes I too want to see the twins get their own stories or her Rarities books and most especially her St Kilda series.. each book has a gritty real world intensity that can only be found in Ms Lowell’s writing. Beautiful Sacrifice is a blend of her romantic suspense books intertwined with her trademark gritty realism. Romance at its best.

When Hunter Johnston’s best friend is marked to take a fall for some missing artifacts Hunter knows just who to turn to. Dr. Lina Taylor. Hunter has been monitoring classes on the Mayan culture from her for a few years and they have been doing a dance of desire. Although, it never seems to get past a cup of coffee and general discussion. He knows she has the brains, the knowledge and the family connections to get some answers. He just needs to try to keep his memories of a family lost and a desire to spend some hot sweaty Houston nights with Lina under control. I like Hunter, mostly because he is pretty well adjusted, sure he had some tragedy in his past but he comes from a loving family, he is a loyal friend and he doesn’t need to beat his chest declaring himself the man in order to capture our attentions.

Dr Lina Taylor, A woman with a goal, a plan and a hidden desire to make mom and dad proud. Yep, she’s the one with the baggage and yet she isn’t consumed by it and most definitely doesn’t wallow in it. She accepts that her family will never be what she needs or wants it to be and deals with it. She doesn’t expect Hunter or any man to swoop in and fix things for her. Even in her deepest darkest secret place.. Nope, she has it all together.

I think that is why I like so many of Elizabeth Lowell’s characters, they aren’t weak.. even if they have a sordid past or tragedy hiding in the wings they are slaves to their pasts, rather they rise above it and become fascinating characters. Lina and Hunter are prime examples.

Ms Lowell takes us from Houston academia to border patrol to the jungles of the Yucatan, explaining Mayan culture while twisting it to enrich a deep and dark plot. Lina and Hunter need to find missing artifacts and why there is death surrounding them. Reasons other than the fact that they are priceless and a missing link in the Mayan heritage. A fascinating blend of true culture and pure fiction. Wrapped in urban decay and gritty suspense.. all that and we call it a romance *grins*.

Although, gripped by the evolvement of the relationship between Hunter and Lina there are times when the back story becomes a bit predictable. Maybe because I know and enjoy Ms Lowell’s work so much I wasn’t surprised by who the villain was. BUT she managed to thrill me with HOW the villain saw himself/herself in the world. Their self importance really got me.

I read this book in an afternoon, which means while I found a few things to nitpick at, the story as a whole had me captivated, ensnared and utterly exhausted. On the edge of my seat as to how this would be resolved and if I was right in who I thought done it.. Of course hindsight is a great attribute and I can say it was predictable, but the entire while I was reading I was thinking.. could it be? Is it? Yeah it’s gotta be them, nah, maybe someone else..

I think Ms Lowell is one of the premiere Romantic Suspense writers out there and that she has pulled off another fascinating story. Sharing with us a rich history of a forgotten culture. Wrapping it up in the 2012 legend only makes it better. The best part.. you can read this as the stand alone it is! A great book!

Shauni

Fallen, A Review

"What If The Person You Were Meant To Be With Could Never Be Yours?"












Luce Price has spent her entire life feeling different from everyone else. From the moment she told her parents about the shadows that she sees all the time, it was made clear that she was the only one who saw them. Luce learned early on not to speak of them to anyone or she would have to suffer the consequence of anti psychotics and intense therapy.

When Luce finally thought that she was going to get her first kiss, the shadows came back at full force and a terrible accident involving fire happened. Now, she finds herself at Sword & Cross boarding school in Savannah, Ga. There is nothing fancy about Sword & Cross. It is a place for misfits and kids who already have records. Luce feels lost from the moment she steps into the school. She knows that she doesn't belong there, but what can she do? The few bright spots at Sword & Cross are her new wonderfully sweet friend, Penn and the incredibly handsome Daniel Grigori.

Luce feels like she has seen Daniel before, something about the way he moves and looks at her tugs at her memory. She can not help but want to get to know everything about him. The problem is that Daniel doesn't even have the time of day to say a nice word to Luce. He goes out of his way to ignore her or make rude comments. Although she has no reason to be attracted to him, other than his beauty, Luce makes it her personal goal to find out whatever she can about the allusive Daniel Grigori.

Not long after Luce starts her quest do things start to get crazy at Sword & Cross. Mysterious things keep happening. Why does Luce keep having flashes of beautiful white wings in her mind? There is so much more going on at Sword & Cross than tests and homework.

Lauren Kate gives us the beginning to the wonderful story of Luce and Daniel in Fallen. It is a story about true love, free will and the consequences that follow it. Luce is a character that we can all relate to, although she is just a young girl. So many things happen in this book. A wonderful dialogue. The book is a smooth read and will have you running to the book store to get the next instalment of the series. Kate knows how to get you hooked! A Must Read Indeed!

Happy Reading!

Lisa :)

Betrayal at Bella Terra, A Review

Christina Dodd pulls out all the stops in this third and final  book of her Bella Terra Trilogy. A Trilogy about three brothers, raised partially by their grandparents when their feckless but charming father manages to marry and divorce or abandon the women in his life. A loveable, useless rogue that shows us the damage neglect can cause.

I will say this from the start. I LOVED THIS SERIES!! Now I have enjoyed Christina Dodd for a long time. Amazingly longer than even I realized, back to a series written and published by silhouette (I think) called her Lost Texas Heart Series.. all the way to her PNR books about the Wilders and the chosen and toss in her governess series as well! She is a gifted writer who manages to make the characters define the story even when it is filled with avenging princes, deals with the devil and a mystery of a lost bottle of wine, Christina Dodd manages to treat us every time one of her books goes to print.

With that being said.. Betrayal had to be one of her best books ever! Noah Di Luca, the charming well adjusted youngest Di Luca brother has some serious secrets he is hiding that could literally destroy his family. He has always been considered the brother who managed to escape the fiasco of their father’s trainwreck of a life and yet he too has some secrets he has kept hidden. His life hasn’t been quite so easy going and he has spent his entire adulthood protecting his family from someone.. A secret he has never shared.. Even going so far as to give up the love of his life.. To push her away and force her to get on with her life. A life without him.

Penelope knew at 18 that she had found love and was forced to realize and accept that some love isn’t returned. She has spent the last nine years getting on with her life. She has been married, widowed, watched her mother die and finally discovered who her father was. She is back in Bella Terra for one reason and one reason only. She wants to meet her father. Instead she headlong into her past. Barely in town she meets Brooke Di Luca, another member of the Di Luca school of Road Kill, not knowing that Brooke has found her HEA with her Di Luca, Penelope engages in first a friendship then a accepts a job. Only to discover that this job comes with the Di Luca’s! Most especially, the ever so charming Noah.

What she thinks is an easy designing job quickly draws her into the family mystery. Discover where the missing bottle of wine is.. meet her father (of course he has to be the Di Luca’s oldest enemy) stay alive and most importantly stay away from Noah Di Luca.. who runs hot and cold and she never quite knows what to expect from him. All she knows is that the fire is still there, the love is still there and she has no clue how to combat it.

Since this was the third book in the trilogy, there is so much that has been explained in the first two books.. READ THEM FIRST!! Ms Dodd does a wonderful job with her romantic suspense and manages to twist and turn her way throughout the story. We are sure we know what is going on right up to the end.. and of course we never quite do. This book has plenty of depth, turmoil and suspense to make just about any reader happy. As far as I am concerned the only thing wrong with it is, well it’s over. We may see the Di Luca’s in another book at some point but I seriously doubt we will see them as they are in these books ever again. And they are so wonderfully charming and charismatic, completely swoonworthy!! I think every girl should get a Di Luca!! and if not she should read this series..

Shauni

Talking About...Liam Hemsworth

Happy Thursday All! This week I am bringing you a male that may not be super famous, but the movies that are putting him on the map are very popular book to movie adaptions. I believe that he is well on his way to stardom!

Today I give you, Liam Hemsworth







Born:       January 13, 1990

In:            Melbourne Australia

Height:    6' 3" (1.91m)

He is the youngest brother to actors Chris and Luke.  After seeing the success that his brothers had achieved, Liam sought out his own agent in Australia to have a try at his own career. He found work on TV in Australia, the UK and USA.

In 2010 he was offered his first role in a major motion picture in The Last Song. A book to movie adaption based on the novel written by Nicolas Sparks.



During The Last Song, Liam found love with his co-star. ( okay everyone... "awe" )

In 2012 Hemsworth landed his second book to movie role as the beloved Gale in, The Hunger Games. The movie is based off the book by Suzanne Collins

The budget for HG's was estimated to be $78,000,000

On opening weekend it made

$152,535,747 (USA)

As of May, 13 2012 is has a gross income of $387,007,048

Over night Hemsworth went from being "Hannah Montana's boyfriend" or "Thor's youngest brother" to being Liam Hemsworth.

Liam has many movies in the works for the next few years including, AWOL, Paranoia and Empire State. The movie I am most excited to see him in is, Expendables 2, as Bill 'The Kid' Timmons.

Yet again, we see how books can change lives in many ways. We thank you Liam for aiding in bringing the characters to life on the big screen! Best of luck in the future. We will be watching! But not in a crazy way... kinda ;) 

Happy Thurday to you all!

Lisa :)