Rogue by Danielle Steel

Danielle Steel is one of many authors whose books I buy the second they come out in paperback.  I love her writing style - I am always so invested in her characters and I care so much about what happens to them.  I have laughed, cried, and gotten angry - all while reading her books.

Rogue is centered around Dr. Maxine Williams.  She is very serious, down-to-earth, career-driven, etc.  Her ex-husband Blake, an early dot.com gajillionaire, is care-free, wild, and everything else Maxine isn't.  Despite it all, they stay friends after their divorce.  Neither of them have seriously dated anyone since their divorce about 5 years ago.  Suddenly, Blake meets Arabella and Maxine meets Charles.  Their kids are extremely unhappy, but they are both smitten with their new love interests.  You can see where this is going.  Will Blake stay with Arabella?  Will Maxine marry Charles?  Or will Blake and Maxine get back together, which various people think will happen throughout the book.  You'll just have to read the book to find out!

I seem to have missed many of Danielle Steel's books since this one.  Hopefully I will find some of them as I continue to make my way through my TBR pile!  Have you ever read a book by Danielle Steel?  If so, did you like it?

Progress toward:

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge - 10/50

100+ Books In a Year - 10/100

In Time

Ever since I saw the preview for In Time starring Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake, I knew I had to see it.  When many bloggers recently blogged about it, it finally pushed me to rent it!

In Time takes place in the future, where everyone stops aging at 25.  But...they also receive one year to live from the time they turn 25.  All currency has been replaced with time, and a scanner in your arm lets you pay with time or receive more time.  On your other arm is a clock that tells how much time you have left.  Will Salas (Timberlake) is from the ghetto, where people live day to day.  After a tragic event, he travels to New Greenwich, where all the rich people are from.  There, he meets Sylvia Weis, daughter of a rich time-loaning businessman.

I don't want to say anything else about the plot for fear of giving away too much.  I will say, it really makes you think about how if currency was changed to time, what would be worth buying to you?  I think it would really change many peoples' priorities.

This is a fantastic movie and I highly recommend it :) 

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

I think America cheered when Jaycee Dugard was found.  I was too young when she was taken to remember it, but I definitely remember her rescue!  When she wrote a book, I wanted to read it just to better understand what would make someone stay with their captor for 18 whole years!

A Stolen Life really makes you understand why Jaycee stayed with her captors for 18 long years!  Not only did she write down her memories in the memoir, but she also included journal entries and pictures.  Can you imagine being 11 years old and being mind controlled by such an awful man????  If you've ever had any questions about Jaycee Dugard's story, you should read this mind-blowing book.  Parts of it were definitely tough to read, but I feel like I really understand her unfortunate situation now.

Progress toward:

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge - 9/50

100+ Books In a Year - 9/100

ReUsable Trash Cans for the Car

My mom and I recently got new cars.  We didn't want them to ever have visible trash around so I bought us really cute bags off of Etsy from My Beautiful Girl's shop.  She is currently on vacation until Feb. 19 but her stuff is super cute so you should check it out when she returns!

The super cute bag for my car!

The equally cute bag that my mom has.

What do you use to hold trash in your car?

Invisalign - Checking In

It has been forever since I have updated about my Invisalign.  I can finally see the progress being made and I am so happy!  You can almost see all of my bottom front teeth now :)

These are my teeth now!!!!

These were my teeth back in July.  *(My mom thought my aligners were spit...I assure you, I don't have that much spit lol)

I am now on aligner 15/28.  I just started it Weds night and I have to say it hurts.  While my front teeth are looking good, my molars still have a way to go!

So I have to ask...is the difference as noticeable to all of you as it is to me??

Mighty Fine - Have You Heard of This Movie?

I feel so lucky!  My mom was really lucky to get 2 4-punch pass cards to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.  This is a huge 2-week movie festival that goes on every year in Santa Barbara and brings in tons of celebs!  We chose to attend "Mighty Fine", not even realizing it was the world premiere!  And...they did a Q&A after the movie with most of the main characters, the director and the producer!

"Mighty Fine" is about Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri) - an ex-soldier who moves his family from Brooklyn to New Orleans to be closer to his factory.  He introduces them to the good life down there - a four story house, VIP tickets to see Elvis, a brand new car for his daughter's birthday and more!  But underneath the perfection, his business is about to collapse and he has a terrible anger problem!

This movie was excellent!  During the Q&A, we learned that Chazz took his "family" out to dinner the first night to help them all bond!  It also helped that Andie MacDowell really is the mom of one of her kids in the film (Rainey Qualley).  And I have to say that Jodelle Ferland played her role excellently!  She really did seem like a sweet young girl caught up in all of the family drama.

 I hope they bring it to theaters soon and I hope it does really well!

Have you ever been to a movie at a film festival before?

January, 2012 Books Read

I did it!  I hit my goal of reading 8 books this month!  I wasn't sure if I could do it because I have never read that many books before, but I actually finished early and took the last few days off.  Below are links to my reviews if you missed them.

1. Toys by James Patterson

2. Worst Case by James Patterson

3. Veil of Night by Linda Howard

4. Protecting Their Baby by Sheri Whitefeather

5. Treachery in Death by JD Robb

6. Born to Die by Lisa Jackson

7. 1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber

8. Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

If I had to pick favorites, I would probably pick Veil of Night, Treachery in Death and Private.  But all of the books I read were great.  I can't wait to see what great books February brings!

Did you read any books in January?  If so, which one was your favorite?