Mistakes Were Made

I made the call about this when I did my top 5 books of the year and said that I was fairly sure that The Help would have made top 5 movies list, had I seen it.

Very true story. I failed to include any honorable mentions, so I'm going to add them now because I've seen two movies in the last two weeks that should definitely have been on my list for 2011.

Top 5 Movies Honorable Mentions

The Help

If you read my top 5 books list, you know why I enjoyed this story. The movie was really well done because of the spot on casting, I think. I never would have thought that Bryce Dallas Howard could play such a horrid southern woman; likewise with Emma Stone playing such a lovely southern girl. I was wrong on both points. Also, Viola Davis deserves an Oscar nod, perhaps not a win though.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

You may have come to this realization, but I love Ryan Gosling. I'm really not sure he can do anything wrong in my book. I also very much enjoy Emma Stone, so this was a pretty good combination. It reminded me a lot of Playing by Heart, one of my favorite movies ever. It was a romantic comedy that kind of fell out of the normal realm of romantic comedies.

Top 5 Books

I didn't have that great of a reading year in 2011. Way too much other stuff to do. But I had some good ones for sure.

5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Who knew that Jane Austen was really writing about zombies? Because there's a solid chance that she was, and she just didn't know it; that's how awesome this book was. See the next entry for specifics.

4. Pride and Prejudice

Remember a few years ago when Persuasion was one of my top books in this blog? And I said that I thought Persuasion only made it on because it was the first Austen I'd made it all the way through and that I don't think I like her? I may have lied. I understand now why women love Jane Austen; it is because of the female characters she creates. They are quietly rebellious, every last one of them. Elizabeth is, of course, recognized as rebellious, but the beauty lies in the minute differences in rebellion of all the women. None are quite the same, nor feel the same way about any two things. Women can't help but see themselves, or wish they could see themselves in one or more of the female characters. Austen was a genius in this manner; she wrote in the style of her time but broke free from the constraints of stock characterization and petty stories.

3. The Hunger Games

I read this book in about 6 hours, mostly because it is a young adult lit book and pretty easy to read, but also because I was really into it. The rest of the series was kind of a let down, but only because I'm probably a little too old to continue reading YA lit like I do. I always see through it now. But this first book didn't address much of the bigger story that's going (the dystopian future and Katniss's involvement in taking down the people oppressing everyone); it stuck with the Hunger Games themselves, the yearly fight to the death between 24 young "tributes," as an introduction to the bigger story. It's brutal and suspenseful, and you have no idea who to actually pull for. There's also a wide array of intriguing side characters to keep you on your toes.

2. The Help

This was one of my reads over the summer, and it was a pretty awesome choice. It's simply written and easy to read; in fact, as I was reading, I wanted to find a reason to work it into an 11th grade American Lit class. The characters are easy to love or hate as the author wants you to and, really, as you should morally. Also, having partially grown up in the south, I enjoyed the giggles I got out of the ridiculous southernness of some of the ladies. I haven't seen the movie, which is unfortunate because I'm sure it would be on my top list.

1. Storm of Swords

I started reading the Song of Ice and Fire (the name of this series), because HBO made a pretty nice TV series based on them, or at least the first book, called Game of Thrones. This is the third book in the series, and it was game changing. And. So. Awesome. I know I use the word awesome a lot, but this was. It was so emotionally satisfying. I cried circa page 700, cheered sometime after that, and then literally kicked my feet in excitement on the last page. If you enjoy fantasy novels at all, you should give this series a shot. I've enjoyed every book so far, including the 4th, which everyone else said was the worst, they just weren't enough for the top 5 of the year.

Honorable Mentions

The Great Gatsby

I've read this book twice before. I chose to re-read it this summer after finding out that they're making a new movie version with Leonardo Dicaprio. I read the whole thing with him in mind, and it was mind blowingly perfect. I'm excited about the film.

Top 5 Movies

I definitely have to preface this year's movie list by telling you that I did not watch movies much this year. At least, not the ones that were released in 2011. I caught up on a lot of old ones I hadn't seen. Last year's list didn't include anything from December 2010; this year's doesn't include anything from November or December of this year. Oh well.

5. Bridesmaids

I actually didn't like this movie as much as I thought I would based on what everyone else was saying. I mean, I laughed, but not as hysterically as I was expecting. What I did like about it, and what made it a top 5 movie for me, was the relationship between Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's characters, and the problems that arise for both of them with the introduction of Rose Byrne's character. It felt very real. It's hard to be friends as adult women sometimes.

4. Black Swan

Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses and seeing her in this role was pretty awesome. It was fun to watch her lose it in that way. There's the question of what was really going on in the movie, i.e. sexual abuse by the mother? Mila Kunis's character: exists or imaginary? How much of the movie was actually happening or was hallucinated?, and by this time, you surely know I like movies that make you question things. Darren Aronofsky, who directed this movie, does that really well. I left the movie with no definitive idea of what had actually happened, and I like that. On second, later, viewing, I think I got a better idea of what was real and what wasn't.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Harry Potter has been a part of my life for about 15 years. Watching this movie was like a culmination of all the tears I had put into this story. There are many things I disliked about the other film versions; to be honest, there were a few things I disliked about this one. But the good outweigh the bad for this one. Over the course of the story, Neville became my favorite character. Finally getting to watch Neville become the hero - the one he could have been had Voldemort "chosen" him at birth - in the moment that he cut the snake's head off was AWESOME. Granted, I didn't like the way they changed that scene, but it was still great fun. This probably isn't a top movie for anyone who isn't a fan of the series. I get that.

2. The King's Speech

Colin Firth is incredible in this movie. I love him. Everything about this movie was awesome. See it now; I don't know what else to say about it.

1. Drive

Ryan Gosling is a god. Also, not to be confused with Drive Angry, starring the not-so-godlike Nic Cage. Drive is not a movie for everyone, but I was intensely moved by a lot of things about it. Gosling's acting was out of this world. I haven't seen The Ides of March yet, which is the one he's going to get nominated for an Oscar for, but I wish that it had come out in a different year than Drive, because he deserves a nod for this as well. The music was PERFECT. The scene in the elevator where Gosling makes out with his girl for the first time before brutally killing a guy sent to kill her was INCREDIBLE. This movie was not about driving cars; it's about what drives people, about what motivation there is behind our actions. It was interesting how much I was moved by this movie about the things that move people and then to see other people who were moved in such a different way than I was. Seriously, now I just want to go watch it.

Top 5 Movies

This list includes December of 2009, since I didn't include those in last year's list because I hadn't had a chance to see them yet. Oscar voters have advantages I don't... :)

5. Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Oh man. I'm pretty sure people who don't really enjoy video games (I'm not talking Halo or Modern Warfare here. I mean old school platforming Mario games and Donkey Kong Country) will not really enjoy this movie. People like me, who hate the vast majority of these new video games (no, I cannot control them), will thoroughly enjoy this movie. It was fun to watch and funny to boot. Oh, and the music was really good.

4. The Princess and The Frog

Dear Disney, Renee and I have dearly missed movies like this one. Thank you for making it. Love, Us. Really though, we have missed the hand-drawn animation, the silly, over-the-top songs, and the predictable outcome (oh wait! This one actually surprised me! Sweet!). Any girl who grew up loving Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and the like should love this movie. It also owes some debt to the lesser known Rescuers (not Down Under, mind you). It was like a mix of Aladdin and The Rescuers because it did such a good job of mixing the backwoods bayou Louisiana, the voodoo crazy side streets of N'Awlins, and the "modern" setting of New Orleans. Oh! And it surprised me! I didn't get the ending right!

3. Toy Story 3

I feel like I could probably copy my rant about Up from last year's post like this and have it still be accurate. When has Disney/Pixar ever let you down? When I heard they were doing this movie, I was really, really unsure what to think. When I heard that the premise was that Andy is going off to college and the toys get donated, I changed my tune. Genius. Zak said it best: "Andy was like 7 in the first movie and now he's going off to college. I feel like I've grown up with the guy!" Anyway, the characters in the Toy Story franchise are each other's family and this movie really touched on that. It was really good.

2. Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges deserved an Oscar for this movie. The acting was great. The music was great. The story was...I don't know the right word. It was sad, but so happy all at once. I don't know how else to describe it.

1.Inception

Holy mother! I HATE Christopher Nolan. The man always makes me leave a movie theatre going "Well...was it like this or like that?" Aside from that, what a phenomenal film. I like that he took an idea that I can relate to, that sometimes we dream things and wake up a little confused (Wait. Did I just make out with Joseph Gordon Levitt?), and made it even crazier. Honestly, this happens to me all the time. Not 3 nights ago, I sat straight up in bed and had no idea where I was because I couldn't remember if I had married some random dude in the dream I was in love with or not. I also loved what he did with the concept of time. Dreams really do feel like you've been in them for days or years sometimes. Nolan did of course leave us with a question at the end, as is his wont, but the main concept of the film, the theory that if you can give someone an idea while they're sleeping, it will linger in waking life even if they don't know where it came from, is really flipping cool. Ignore the question part if that bothers you at all.

Honorable Mentions:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1

I have to give a shout out this one simply because it's the first movie version of the books that I've actually thought they did a really fantastic job with.

Hot Tub Time Machine

I have to throw a straight up comedy on here since the other ones are not. This movie looked stupid because it was. The premise was ridiculous; there's no arguing that. But it was freaking hilarious. There was one scene with John Cusack that had me laughing for days.

How to Train Your Dragon

This fell short of Toy Story 3, but it definitely still deserves a mention. This was a super cool movie.

I do feel like a bunch of good movies are coming out this December and that many of those would probably have topped some of these. I hope I can remember them next year.

Top 5 Books

As another year comes to a close, I think I'll again spend some time reviewing with some lists of things from 2010. This list is kind of crappy. I did not read that many great books this year. Sad. In fact, really only number one is a great book, a classic; the rest of them are good books.

5. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

I will happily admit to jumping on the bandwagon with Gilbert's first book, Eat, Pray, Love, which was one of the first "adult" books I read after graduating from college, along with She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb. In fact, I didn't really read anything for about 2 years after graduating because I was so tired of reading things. When I finally did, those two books ended up basically changing my life, so I got pretty excited when I heard about her new book. It ended up not being quite as life changing, which is to be expected, all things considered, but I really enjoyed the topic. Gilbert was basically being forced to marry the guy she met during the love part of her first book if they wanted to be able to live in the states, and she was second guessing this because of the unfortunate end of her first marriage. She travels around the world with her partner waiting for some things to happen with the government and does research into the institution of marriage while she does so, attempting to define for herself what she wants her marriage to be. As a 27 year old woman who questions that institution in our country on a somewhat regular basis, I found the topic interesting and appealing.

4. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

The second installment of Stieg Larson's trilogy is by far the best of the three. The first book was really good but doesn't really get into the story of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo despite the title. It focused more on the story of the other main character and presented us with a murder mystery for intrigue. The Girl Who Played With Fire does focus on her and I found it even more interesting than the first one. Also, the girl who played with fire is kind of a badass.

3. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

I found this book on my bed when I came home right before we went to New Mexico, open to the first chapter. I think Zak tried to read it. Anyway, I took it with me to New Mexico and read it there. I had not seen the movie, nor did I know the movie was based on a book. Actually, Dennis Lehane writes lots of books that turn into movies that I didn't know about. Anyway, the book actually reads very much like a screenplay, and the story was super good. It was a mystery with one of those twists at the end, like I like. But I much prefer to read them than watch them.

2. Atonement by Ian McEwan

This is yet another story that I always wanted to see the movie version of but put off doing until I had read the book. I tried to pick up the book once before and didn't make it, but was bound and determined this time. I ended up really liking it; it's probably the only really "literary" book I read this year. It is often easy to misconstrue things that you're only seeing a little bit of and definitely easy to let things get out of hand when you don't fully understand them. And then it is especially hard to go back and fix those things that you messed up. It's so real, such a "close to home" problem at times, that it really appealed to me.

1. The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carlson

This was, by far, the best book that I read all year. It explores the relationships in a family of many women, something that falls rather close to my heart. It goes beyond the basic familial relationships to the very core of what it is that makes us human: our emotions and decisions. We love each other and we hurt each other and there are reasons for those things that make sense and reasons that absolutely, 100%, do not make any sense whatsoever. The book starts with a simply chapter introducing the characters, who count the number of flowers they get on the moonflower vine every year. It comes full circle, back to the moonflower vine, in such a way that it actually almost changes the entire story. I had to go back and reread the first chapter.

Honorable Mention: I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max

Let me preface this one by saying that this book is not for everyone by any means. Tucker Max is a complete douche who writes about his shenanigans. I have no idea if they are real or not. I assume mostly not, all things considered. And many of them gross me out. However, this is the first book that I have ever read that literally made me laugh out loud. Hysterically. Tucker Max is a really phenomenal writer. I don't mean that he will go on to write the next Great American Novel. He absolutely will not do that, but his writing is absolutely hysterical. It's a combination of topic and his style.

This really wasn't a good year for good books, honestly. This list was hard to put together. Better luck next year.

2009 Wasn't That Awesome

I knew I wouldn't get this one done until after 2009 was done. Here are my Top 5 Moments of 2009. This took so long because it was kind of hard to think of 5.

5. Going to 3 beerfests in about a month.
Damn you liver! Okay, not really; I must honestly say I do love having a liver and I hope it continues to work properly. I'm not actually sure when all these beerfests were. The first was High Country in Boone, NC. This was the smallest and shortest, but I had the best beer I've ever had in my life there. It was a homebrew from an App State professor and I can't remember what it was called, but it was mint chocolate and it was amazing. Then there was Brewgrass in Asheville, which is a HUGE deal, but the planners keep it small. It's also a family affair. :) The last was Octoberfest in Charlotte, which was actually really big and ended with me falling asleep on a friend's couch at like 8, then waking up periodically and falling back asleep again. Yes, there were definitely people there seeing this. Embarassing, but it was my third beerfest.

4. Seeing Smitty
Smitty was my soccer coach in high school and I hadn't seen him in a long time. I got an email from him letting me know that his boy's team would be playing against Reynolds, a school in Asheville, and asking if I had any scouting info and telling me to come out and say hi. It worked out perfectly because my friend Adam was in Asheville that weekend too. He had also played soccer for Smitty and we both got to go out and see him. Awesome.

3. Find out Social Distortion was going to be playing in Charlotte
I'm pretty sure I wish I had a video of my freak out when I discovered this on the internet. Granted, the show ended up not being that great. But the moment I found out I was finally going to get to see one of my favorite bands was totally priceless.

2. Having 98% of my students pass their state test
Standardized tests are kind of BS. But I have to get my kids to pass them. This last school year was really, really iffy. I had a TON of special ed kids and a group of really unmotivated "normal" kids. I usually get really good numbers of students passing, but I was really worried about last year's group. They ended up doing a great job, however, so either they're smarter than they let on, or I'm a better teacher than I think I am. For my sanity's sake, I think it's probably the latter.

1. The general success of my first student trip overseas
In April, over Spring Break, I took a student group to Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Trips like these are not school sponsored, so it's completely up to parents as to whether they want to send their children. I was REALLY nervous about it, but it turned out fine. Better than fine, really. There are definitely some things I will do differently next time, but in general, it was a lot of fun. I was also really scared that I would be bored out of my mind. I usually travel on my own schedule and plans. These was with a tour group... on a bus... But it actually turned out great. See, I go for free as a group leader, so I got to see cool places, spend a lot of solo time wandering these cool places (which is really, really fun), and watch some teenagers grow just a little bit into adults in just a week. And I did it all for under $400. Sweet!

So there it is. Three cheers for 2010; it will probably be better!

Top 5 Travesties

And now for something a little different. These are the top 5 things that really disappointed me/pissed me off/were completely uncalled for/should never have happened/etc. in 2009.

5. The fact that Sarah Palin still exists

I'm not really going to go into detail on this one except to say that I had hoped that, after the election and her resignation, she would just fall off the face of

the planet. Alas.

4. It took Michael Jackson dying to make news sites crash because of the number of people trying to access them

I definitely listen to NPR every morning, and I check CNN, BBC, and various other news sites, including local ones (gasp!) fairly often, usually every day when I get to school. I feel like people should want to know what's going on more. The fact that it was MJ's death that caused sites to be overloaded is kind of ridiculous. Sure, the guy was a pop legend in his time, but really what had he done recently besides behave strangely?

3. The cancellation of Pushing Daisies

I think about this almost every time I watch TV. Pushing Daisies was a really unique show; it was what I imagine would happen if Tim Burton directed a Dr. Seuss story on film. It was the story of a piemaker who could bring things back to life with one touch, but every time he did it for longer than 1 minute, something nearby of equal "value" (for lack of a better word) would be sacrificed. He used old fruit in his pies and brought them back to life. Talk about sustainable energy! :) The story revolved around him helping a private detective solve crimes. It was also very well acted (I hope to see Lee Pace in something again soon) and Kristin Chenowith actually won an Emmy for it after the fact. Anyway, it was c

ancelled too early and without a chance to really end the story, which made me sad.

2. Cancellation of Dollhouse

Ok. Joss Whedon is a genius. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was amazing, once it hit its stride. Whedon keeps getting screwed by Fox though. I think he needs to move on to another network. Dollhouse has a difficult premise to explain as it's kind of scientific jargon. Basically, people volunteer, for various reasons, for a program in which their brains are wiped of memory except what "imprint" a client requests. The "doll" is then sent out as whoever they think they are to do whatever the client requested. The overarching story is the attempts to "free" these dolls. I can almost guarantee that A) a better timeslot and B) running all the way through season 2, would have sealed its spot as a necessary Fox show. The loss of my weekly dose of Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penikett is devastating, honestly.

1. Failing to go see the Rancid/Rise Against/Billy Talent show in Myrtle Beach

Ugh. This wouldn't hurt so much if I could just remember WHY I didn't go. In the meantime, it's possible that, after finally seeing Social Distortion, Rancid is my new if-I-don't-get-to-see-them-in-my-lifetime-I-might-die band. Crap and a half.

Honorable Mention:

Failing to see No Doubt in Charlotte: I DO remember why I didn't go to this one, and it wasn't worth it.

I need to start blogging on stuff that I could put up pi

ctures of, but all my pictures are old because my camera is broken.

So to keep you occupied, here are a couple of my favorite pictures of my parents.

At Lita and Grandpa's in San Fran over the summer.

And at BrewGrass in September.

Top 5 Movies

So up today is my Top 5 Movies of the year. I'll get past this pop culture BS eventually and get into lists that actually recall my year. This is much easier.

Actually that's a lie. This one was really hard. That's why I've had to include some honorable mentions at the bottom.

5. Up

Ok, so honestly, when has Disney/Pixar ever let the world down? Seriously. The Incredibles is one of my favorite movies ever. Wall-E? Genius. Toy Story? Epic genius. Oh my gosh, Finding Nemo. This list is just unbelievable. Up is no different. Yeah, the story is cliche, there is a talking dog, an oddly friendly wild bird, and intense sadness. But you end up in love with the characters, including the talking dog, who you will quote more often than any other character, and you will also laugh as hard as you cry. If you haven't seen it yet, do so. You will not regret it.

4. The Hangover

What made this movie so good was the cast. Good grief. Zach Galifinakis is a hilarious man. I'm pretty sure that if I ever met him in real life, he would be able to make me pee my pants. I can't remember Andy from The Office's real name, but following anyone's name with "from The Office" is a surefire sign that they are hilarious. Observe: Dwight from The Office. Stanley from The Office. Creed from The Office. And then there was the cute guy whose name is also escaping me. Anyway, this movie was intensely funny. The cast was great, but I'm sure the writing helped at least a little. There were some really, really smart lines.

3. Inglourious Basterds

Listen. Say what you will about Quentin Tarantino; the guy can write some movies. Sure, there was only one bloody fight scene in this one, making it his least bloody movie ever, but it was a really, really well done bloody fight scene, and it was hilarious to boot! What made this movie fantastic was the dialogue and the characters that Tarantino created and then mashed together without ever even putting on screen at the same time. Brad Pitt is given a chance to do some real acting for once, and he delivers. Ryan from The Office (hey! see #4) plays his minor role quite well. The chick who played Shoshanna was fantastic. I don't know what else to say. Sure, the movie is not in the least bit historically accurate. Who cares? If for no other reason than to see Brad Pitt sport a mountains-of-Tennessee accent and kill some Nazis, this was a great movie.

2. Star Trek

Oh. Wow. I have never seen a single episode of Star Trek. Nor have I seen any of the previous movies. Literally, I knew some of the characters names, but nothing about them. This did not matter, as it turns out. This movie was apparently a re-imagining, or something along those lines. I don't know how else to say that this movie was flat out awesome. I thought (coming from someone with no prior Star Trek experience at all) that the casting was spot on. That guy from Shaun of the Dead as Scotty? Genius! Do I have any idea if he was supposed to be that silly? None whatsoever. Zachary Quinto as Spock? Genius! That guy from Harold and Kumar as Sulu? Genius! Follow good cast with a smart script and storyline, as well as really solid action, and I think you've managed to properly re-imagine a franchise and gain a new fan while you're at it.

1. (500) Days of Summer

This movie flew under the radar but it's well worth seeing. Joseph Gordon Levitt is a revelation. My childhood crush on him in Third Rock from the Sun probably doesn't help, but he is in fact a really fantastic actor. This movie is real life and I left it feeling good about life in general, even though I was in a really bad place at the time. Yes, life may be awesome sometime and suck other times, but it will always work out for the best. This is being released on DVD soon. See it immediately.

Honorable Mentions

Fanboys: It kind of hurt to put Star Trek on that list over a movie about a group of Star Wars fans who cross the country to try to steal a copy of Episode I from Skywalker Ranch before it's released in theaters in 1999. In fact, I feel like a traitor. It was very funny and very poignant, with some superb cameos, including Bill Shatner. I began asking "Was Bill Shatner involved in this?" every time something went wrong in the spring.

Zombieland: Woody Harrelson needs to be in more movies where he gets to play a pseudo-crazy zombie killing machine. End of story. Also, more cameos by Bill Murray would make life happier. P.S. This movie was hilarious.

My Bloody Valentine 3D: I have to give a nod to this movie as it did scare the bejeezus out of me. It actually wasn't terrible, and it was really fun to watch because of the 3D. Here's my rendition of how this movie got made: Two guys write a lame script that's just like every other lame Hollywood horror/thriller movie. They take it a Hollywood exec who says "My Bloody Valentine is just like every other lame horror/thriller movie we've ever made. Sorry boys." So the guys go home dejected and smoke pot for three weeks straight. Then one of them looks up and says "I've got an idea." They take the same script back to the same exec who is confused and says "This is the same script." And the guys say "No. Now it's My Bloody Valentine 3D." The exec gasps and says "Oh my god. We've been making kids' movies 3D for ages. Why oh why haven't we done horror movies?!?"

Next up: My Top 5 Travesties

Top 5 Books

In beginning to think about this year in retrospect, I've decided to make some Top 5 lists to help me remember all the things I accomplished this year, as well as share some of my favorite moments with everyone.

I'm going to start with my Top 5 Books of the year. I actually did an amazing job of reading over last winter and then an even more amazing job over the summer and continuing into the school year. I could have put a lot more than just these 5 because I only finish books that I like. So there's something good about every book that I read. I ended up choosing these ones because they stood out in some way.

5. Persuasion by Jane Austen

This book made it on here almost solely because it's the first Jane Austen book I have made it all the way through. I think for some reason the topic and themes of this book appealed to me more than Austen's others. She's the original chick lit and that just doesn't do it for me very often (see #4). But this particular Austen takes it a bit backwards in that it asks for forgiveness in a relationship where love has always existed, rather than asking for love to exist in a relationship between two unlikely characters. I think it's possible that I was hoping for that in real life at the time, so it appealed to me. That said, I will be reading the other Austen books because I'm pretty sure my mom will disown me if I don't.

4. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Again, normally, chick lit is not my thing. Renee digs the chick lit, and I stick more to...well I don't know what to call it really. I think I read more "literary" things, but that makes me sound like a snob. I just don't usually like chick lit. That's what I assumed this book was, and in a way, it is. But it's chick lit with a twist. Yeah, it's about love that transcends time and age, every girl's dream. Henry cannot control his existence in time and space. Claire can. They fall in love and make it work, though he appears and disappears at random times during her linear life, starting when she is very young. This in and of itself makes the book interesting to read. You actually have to pay attention to what is going on because of the dates and there are twists you don't see coming. It's way better than most chick lit books because it's so well thought out and put together.

3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini

This is a book that I have been hearing good things about for years. No one ever told me what it was about and I just never picked it up. I'm glad no one ever told me what it was about because I probably wouldn't have read it for the depressing storyline. I would have been missing out, and was missing out for several years, if I had never read it. Housseini is an amazing writer. This story captures the fragility of the human spirit in astonishing ways. Yeah, it's depressing, but it's also intensely uplifting. The world around us exists, it's harsh, but we love each other, and we take care of each other, and we forgive each other. I finished this book in a matter of hours, then promptly picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns, his other book, without even intending to.

2. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Obviously, I've been watching the movie version of this book for many, many years. I have been loving it just as long. I had no idea that it even was a book, and upon learning that it was, I was convinced that the book would be nowhere near as good as the film. How could a book get across the same tongue-in-cheek humor as a film? Well, I was wrong. This is a fantastic book. Goldman purports to have taken the original script by S. Morgenstern and abridged it in the manner that his grandfather read it to him when he was little. He adds his own commentary throughout. This serves as the basis for the film as well. This is, of course, is false. Goldman wrote all of it. Anyway, this book was just as great as the film.

1. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

What an amazing book! I had no idea! I have had a copy of this book, intending to read it, for almost 5 years and had never been able to bring myself to do it. I finally started it and got into it. At first, I wasn't that into it. In fact, throughout the vast majority of the book, I kept thinking "Well, this is good, but it's not great." Then I got to the end. HOLY CRAP! Anyway, it's the story of a third child (rare in the future for a family to be allowed to have a third child) named Ender who is one of the best military strategists ever. He goes to school and trains to be the commander of the army that hopes to save humanity. Wow. That's a really bad summary and does the book no justice whatsoever.

So there it is. My top 5 books of 2009. Please note this is not books published in 2009, but books I read in 2009.

P.S. I finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It was also depressing, but uplifting, kind of like The Kite Runner. I didn't think it was unbelievable or anything, but I definitely enjoyed it.