We’re home sweet home!
Although it will be nice to get back into a normal routine, we were really sad leaving Washington DC and my in-laws this morning. Eight days out there completely flew by, and it stunk seeing our vacation come to an end. :(
I should really spend tonight unpacking, getting started on my massive to-do list, and taking down Christmas decorations (xmas decor on display after the holidays is always a little depressing, don’t you think?) but instead I’m going to enjoy what’s left of my vacation and finish reading New Moon. :)
I started it on our first flight today and got swept away in the land of vampires and warewolves. Again. It’s my second time reading it, muwahaha!
OMG, that reminds me, I finally read The Help!
I’m not sure what took me so long – I think I believed it to be over hyped – but I was 1,000% wrong. I started it on our first flight out to DC last week, and finished it the same day. I do believe it was my favorite book of 2011!
Now I’m just dying to see the movie even though Emma Stone, who plays Skeeter, couldn’t be further from the skinny, awkward character I grew to love from the book.
Readers & viewers – what did you think?
It was also kind of neat that we saw the brand new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial out in DC this week, after I finished reading it.
Inspirational.
Striking.
AMAZING! :D
What was your favorite book of 2011? Read any good ones over the holidays?
Karla 01.02.2012
My favorite book I read this year was The Hunger Games! Highly recommend it! I am currently reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I’m a little late on the hype with that one but I am really pulled in and loving it!
Tessa @ Amazing Asset 01.02.2012
I really enjoyed the Help as well! I read it when it first came out, and had been excited to see the movie ever since I heard it was being made into one… and it didn’t disappoint me :)
I also read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett this year and absolutely loved it!
samantha 01.02.2012
I LOVED Pillars of the Earth – would say is my favorite of all time!
Jessica V 01.02.2012
The movie The Help was done very well, I think you will enjoy it! Emma did a wonderful job as Skeeter.
Allison 01.02.2012
What Alice Forgot was one of my favorite books. The other was Faith: A Novel, the description didn’t sound appealing to me, but I ended up loving it.
dawn 01.02.2012
I just watched The Help last night! Awesome. Thank you for sharing the new monument with us. I LOVE it. I can’t wait to see your other posts about your visit.
BTW.. My Christmas has been put away for DAYS… just sayin’! ;-)
Autumn@Good Eats Girl 01.02.2012
I have The Help sitting on my bedside table….it’s screaming “READ ME!!!” I just have yet to grab it….I just finished 13 Reasons Why….it’s a young adult novel that my students have been reading like crazy. It was a really good book!!!
Gloria 01.02.2012
I just got finished watching movie THE HELP for the second time. My daughter got it for me for Christmas. I also read the book. I lovedthem both. the movie is slow to start but gets better as it goes on. I just got a Kindle for Christmas and am anxious to read this winter. I started Cane River and am really enjoying it.
Enjoy.
Lindsey 01.02.2012
LOVED The Help, but haven’t seen the movie yet. I also just started to read the Gossip Girl series which I really like, and they are easy reads.
Dione 01.02.2012
Oh to pick one book for the year is entirely too difficult.:) I did read The Help and enjoyed it but I wouldn’t even say it’s my favorite. A couple recent reads I really loved were ‘Graceling’ by Kristin Cashore (an incredibly romantic fantasy novel) and ‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth (dystopian). I can’t play favorites ha.
Kate @ Stripes and Polka Dots 01.02.2012
I LOVED The Help! The movie is great too, although I almost always prefer books to their movie versions!
Amanda B. 01.02.2012
The Help was great and so was the movie!
I’m on the second book of the Hunger Games right now. I’ve been whizzing through them.
What I didn’t like won’t be finishing the series of is the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was interesting the middle but the beginning and end are boring book ends. A lot of pointless details.
Kristin from MN 01.02.2012
The next two in the series are more action-packed and much better IMO! I really liked the series, but agree book 1 started off super boring and the end seemed anti-climatic. Book 2 and 3 pick up right where the previous left off and you get into the mysteries right away!
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) 01.02.2012
I loved the book too! I waited a while to read it as well. I thought it probably wouldn’t be as good as the hype but I was wrong.
As for the movie…I was a little disappointed, but others have said they really liked it. I think some of the casting wasn’t the best, and they changed so much! I guess they had to. Have fun watching it!
Ashley @ coffee cake and cardio 01.02.2012
Sadly I read manly graduate school books, which I dought y’all have read. I’m excited to read for pleasure after graduating in may!
My fiancé proposed right on the water in front of the MLK memorial. That memorial is dear to my heart for many reasons.
Alysha @shesontherun 01.02.2012
I read the help and saw the movie. Loved both! Especially the fashion (in the movie). I loved Bryce Dallas Howard and the girl who played Celia.
The books I’m loving right now are the Hunger Games series. I finished the second book in about three days and now anxiously awaiting the third at the library.
Stephanie @ Ultra Ambitious 01.02.2012
I saw The Help on Christmas and I feel like the book would be so much better. I liked the movie, but wasn’t in love with it. I feel like if I read the book I would indeed be in love with it. I think the best book I read this year would be…The Ethics of What We Eat. I’m kind of a nerd and like to learn stuff from the books I read haha.
JennP 01.02.2012
The movie is awesome too! And you will be surprised by how mousy Emma Stone is in this role. They definitely de-glammed her.
Iowa Girl Eats 01.02.2012
Ok good. It kind of drives me nuts when Hollywood throws a pair of glasses and a wig on a gorgeous actress, and tries to pretend she’s not!
Patti 01.02.2012
I read The Help a few years ago when it first came out and it is my favorite book since then – and I read a lot! The movie is great also. I saw it 3 times and I never see a movie even twice! Emma Stone becomes Skeeter so SEE IT. I think Ben would like it too. Love your blog!
heather 01.02.2012
“11/22/63” it. is. MESMERIZING. the fictious parts are intriguing and the attention to historical detail is great. favorite of 2011 by far!
heather 01.02.2012
garrrrr, i got too excited to type correctly. fictitious*
Amber @ A little pink in the cornfields 01.02.2012
I looooved The Help! The movie is really great – go rent it soon!!!
My favorite book of 2011 was probably the same as yours, and also One Day. Which, after seeing the movie made me love it even more. Weird, right?
Lisa @ Fit in the Midwest 01.02.2012
I loved The Help too, although I think Unbroken was one of my favs that I read in 2011.
I just watched the movie version of The Help and was sort of disappointed/bored.
Iowa Girl Eats 01.02.2012
Unbroken is probably my #2!