can you keep a secret?

Ok. Another bus ride. Another book I’ve read. By Sophie Kinsella – Can you keep a secret? Emma Corrigan, 25 years old, a junior marketing executive at marketing department of Panther Corporation. She has few secrets, which includes:

1. Sometimes she thinks her boyfriend Connor who works in research department of Panther Cola is too handsome, just like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.
2. She has no idea what NATO stand for or what the hell it is.
3. She weigh 128 but told Connor she is 118
4. She’s uncomfortable with G-String
5. And bla~bla~bla~

On a plane ride she accidentally spills it out to a handsome stranger, an American guy, out of fear of dying when the plane hit turbulence. If ever there was a bare soul, it's hers. She survives the flight, of course, and the next morning the famous founding boss of the whole mega corporation she works for is coming for a look at the UK branch. As he walks around, Emma looks up and realises... It's the man from the plane.

It had been a while since I read a ‘love story’. Overall, this one is a nice reading. Emma’s secret is what all of us has and feel as well. I never lied about my weight though. Hee~ As I read this, I thought this will be a good date-movie... a romantic comedy. When I checked it, it's already in planning. Kate Hudson will play Emma Corrigan. Damn. I was thinking about someone younger-looking like Anne Hathaway. Don't get me wrong, but I'm kind of tired seeing Kate in romantic comedies.

Anyway, put aside the book and movie. Let me share my few secrets with you. (To think that of all those who read this blog, only a two or three knows me in real) so here we go:

1. My friend is having an affair with someone else’s husband, thus spawn havoc in her family. Everyone was against it. When she was pregnant with her then-someone else’s husband-boyfriend and everyone was like ‘eww’ or ‘oh my gosh’ or talking about her sin-on-sole, I thought she was smart. Getting herself pregnant so everyone has no other choice but to let her marry the guy, that one is a brilliant move. Sin is your business with God. As long as you got the man of your dreams, mind nothing else.

2. When everyone was busy with the thought ‘apasal aku tak kahwin lagi ni’, the truth is, I’m pretty happy the way I am now. The thought of having to care for someone else and share almost everything is uncanny. I have no desire to get married, at least not now. But singing the rhythm ‘apa nak jadi, sampai sekarang tak kahwin lagi’ nonetheless along with everyone else, so no one will think I’m out-of-the-league.

3. I had never been properly in love. And just like Emma Corrigan, I also thought that somewhere somehow, something big is waiting for me out there. Nge~~

4. I dump my ex-boyfriend because I was after something else in life then. I regret it much more than I should be now.

5. I hate my father. Not because what he did to us but because I seems to succeed his insecurity, shaky emotion and madness.

6. I have an addiction of patting someone's butt. Recently, I've come to realize, I only did this to friends that I feel really close with. I wish I can grab Beyonce's butt when she come down here. Tee~hee~

Ok, don’t share too much. What’s yours?

p/s : Mie, let's go watch this when it hit the cinema, shall we?

these are the lovely bones

Today, I finished reading Alice Sebold’s book, The Lovely Bones. (My bus-ride is worthy after all, yay!). What a breathtaking story. The best ever book I’ve read since John Grisham’s, A painted house. The Lovely Bone will turn into a movie directed by Peter Jackson, The one who brought us The Lord of The Rings and King Kong.

The story was set in 70s. The years when your high school crushes can last a lifetime and become your better half. And as Sebold says, it’s the year before kids of all races and genders started appearing on milk cartons or in the daily mail.

The story revolved around Susie Salmon, 14 years old on December, 1973 when she was brutally raped, murderer and dismembered by her seemingly shy neighbour Mr. George Harvey who lives alone and built dollhouse for a living. Over the next few years she watches from a personalized heaven as her family and friends deal with their grief over her death.

Will it turn out better than the book? I really hope so. I want to see how they’re going to visualize susie’s heaven. I’ve checked the list of actors and actresses. My favourite, Rachel Weisz will play Abigail, Susie’s mother who has a short affair with the detective and leave her husband because she’s too weak to accept the fact that her oldest daughter is dead. I’ve loved Weisz since her roles in The Constant Gardener. (She won an Oscar for this). Susan Sarandon plays Grandma Lynn, who moves into their house after her daughter leaves to help her son-in-law care for the remaining children, Susie’s precious sister Lindsey and beloved little brother, Buckley.

My favourite character is Ruth. I pictured her with a gothic sense of dressing. At some point Ruth had break all the rules by exchanging her soul with Susie, so Susie can once again kiss the boy she truly love from her high school years using Ruth’s body. Hal Heckler, the brother of Samuel Heckler, Lindsey’s boyfriend from high school to college and later become her husband, is another character of my favourite. Mark Wahlberg will play Jack Salmon, Susie’s father whom she loved most.

I’m so gonna watch this movie. I even read the movie’s script. Teeheehe. I’ve watched the official trailer and I hope it won’t be as disappointing as Twilight have been. While reading Twilight, I pictured Bella as someone self-reserved, cute and not pretty. I pictured Ellen Page as Bella while anyone can be Edward because no matter what, no human can be as handsome as Stephanie Meyer had described Edward’s look. Haha. Anyone plays Edward will going through long hour of excessive make-up. And Kristen Stewart made Bella looked too awkward.

What’s even more disappointing is too much have been left out in the movie. Summit Entertainment should have spent more on Twilight. The Sequel of the ridiculously popular saga will come into cinema some time in November. But I’m more eager to watch The Lovely Bones than New Moon. After all, Peter Jackson has reputation of turning book into good movie. The Lovely Bones will be release in US on 11 December and UK 29 January 2010. Haven’t seen release date for Malaysia or any part of Asia. Maybe we’ll get to see it some time in February next year. Du’oh.

I will blog about New Moon and The Lovely Bone after I watch it. In the meantime I'm moving to Alice Sebold's 3rd book and Second Novel, Almost Noon. Oh and by the way, her 1st book is a memoir described her experiences of being raped while walking home through an underground tunnel on campus. The book’s title is Lucky. This memoir of her ultimately tells the story of a brutal rape, the emotional trauma, and the aftermath of recovery. Now I know what inspired The Lovely Bones.