The Royal Diaries - Marie Antoinette

5 Stars

This book belongs to an entire series of Royal Diaries. They are meant for young readers, and not very condensed, so it was a quick read. It was a series of diary entries, some of it fiction but many parts based on real facts. The author did a lot of research and created a story that shows the less glamorous side to being a queen. She even includes a small history lesson in the last few pages. I had heard the name Marie Antoinette before many times, but never stopped to take note of who she was and what her story was about. This book, while short, was fun, educational, and entertaining.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

I can't rate this book. This book is my absolute favorite novel of all time (so far :P). I cried at the end yes, but I also cried many times before reaching the end. Parts of it read like a poem. The descriptions and detail in this book make the story REAL. The author, Rebecca Wells, wrote it with raw, fearless emotion. It made me long for experiences I've never had, and ache for experiences I've had but have no more.

I've Loved You So Long

We don't like a lot of the hollywood movies, so we watch British whenever possible. Sometimes the accents are difficult, and there aren't always subtitles; but the drama is produced in a much more intelligent way. This movie is French, so we were very happy there were subtitles. The ending was predictable right from the very start of the movie; but that was okay. The movie was excellent not because of the ending, but because of the journey to get there. All the characters are made interesting, and the performances are perfect. The story is centered around Juliette, who was released from prison after 15 years at the beginning of the movie. The obvious questions like 'what exactly is prison', and 'what exactly is freedom' are dealt with in a much more subtle manner than hollywood would treat it; and are not contained in the dialogue but in the vision of the director and cinematographer.





Now for the cynical American stuff. You'll notice the first trailer says "first official trailer". Posted by some xenophobe, obviously. Should say "first official american trailer". You know, like a mobile home park. So, I included the French trailer. The trailers give a good flavor of the beautiful background choices made to subtly accent the story in the foreground.