Looking for a really good read? A story that you will become completely immersed in? Read this book.
"The Fault In Our Stars" by John Green will make you laugh out loud on more than one occasion, it will make you bawl your eyes out and you will not want it to end! But, that was just my experience, give a read for yourself and then let me know how you felt about it.
Last week I had the honour of meeting one of my all time favourite authors, Nicholas Sparks.
Nicholas Sparks had been on a press tour promoting his latest book to film adaptation, "The Lucky One" starring the handsome Zac Efron and beautiful Taylor Schilling when he made a stop in Toronto to meet some "lucky" fans (about 500 of them)!
I read this book about 3 years ago, and it is definitely one of my faves! I highly recommend reading this book...and maybe all of his other ones while you're at it! ;)
This was my third book signing since December, all put on by Indigo events. If you have ever thought that a book signing might be boring then you need to attend one of these events, it is anything but boring! There is always a DJ playing some tunes, and there are often giveaways as well. At this event they were giving away t-shirts (I got one), and lip gloss. There were Twitter contests, dance offs and a full on sing-a-long to One Direction for the younger girls in the crowd.
Nicholas Sparks was all smiles and just as friendly and gracious as you would expect him to be. He was nice enough to stick around and take some photos with some of us after the signing, good thing too, otherwise I wouldn't have had a photo for this blog!
"The Lucky One" hits theatres on April 20th. Check out the trailor below.
This past Monday, I was lucky enough to be able to attend an advance screening of the documentary Bully at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. I had been waiting to see this since I first heard about it and I was definitely not disappointed.
I could not be happier that director Lee Hirsch decided to make a film about bullying. It's about time that people are now truly starting to pay attention and admit that we have a serious, serious problem. After all of the headlines we've inevitably read in the last couple of years, Bully could not have come at a better time.
Now, I think the thing that shocked me the most was that in the United States the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) slapped this film with an R rating. In a discussion panel after the Canadian premiere Lee Hirsch made sure to point out the hypocrisy of it all. I hadn't thought about this, but they give PG and PG-13 ratings to many films that glorify and even "sexify" violence. Lee was absolutely right.
Discussion Panel (iPhone photo from back row)
They of course didn't just accept this unfair R rating. Harvey Weinstein along with Alex Libby, one of the bullied boys featured in the film stood before the appeals board. In his statement, Alex told the board that they were basically saying that he couldn't see his own life! They lost by one vote. It's not a total loss though, they ended up with the film being unrated which is definitely better than R. Canada on the other hand gave Bully a PG rating in every province with the exception of Quebec who gave it a G. Go Canada!
If you know me, then you know the subject of bullying really hits home with me. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I am so glad that I did not grow up in the digital age. The bullying I encountered while growing up was nothing compared to what's going on these days, but I will never ever forget the hurtful words and poor treatment. It didn't follow me home from school unless you're talking the odd prank phone call, but today there is no escaping it. Today you're bullied even when you're in what's supposed to be your safe place.
Bully is such a powerful and moving film. Teachers need to see this, kids to see this, everybody needs to see this! With a generation of kids that are the least empathetic ever, now is the time. It's time to make a change. It's time to stand together against bullying. Do I think that bullying will ever go away completely? No. But I do truly believe that we can make a difference and save some young lives.
A little word of advice for when you see this film? Bring kleenex.
Check out the trailer below:
Make sure to visit their Canadian website www.bullymovie.ca to demand it in your city and while you're at it, pledge to take a stand against bullying!
You can catch Bully at the Varsity Cinemas in Toronto beginning Friday April 6th.
*UPDATE: The MPAA has finally granted the film a PG-13 rating!*
