Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years"

This book is for writers, people looking for a great life and pretty much everyone. Donald Miller has already won his way into the hearts of many readers through his book "Blue Like Jazz." And his new book won't let them down. The book inspires readers to write their own great story through their own lives, just as he has learned to do recently in his own life in learning what makes a great story. Be prepared to feel challenged while enjoying Miller's struggle in finding a way to change his life from ordinary to extraordinary.

Miller begins "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" much like his other books—you may have no idea where he is going. But in his seemingly random thoughts he winds through stories and little moments in his life that illustrate his point in a meaningful way.

When someone calls Miller to transform his book "Blue Like Jazz" into a movie his journey begins. As he learns more and more about making his character in the movie interesting to a viewer, he also begins working on his own character, often by adding his own obstacles into his life: sign up for a bike ride across the U.S.? Sure, why not! Start a nonprofit? I guess so. Ask a girl he likes to go on an arduous hike in another country? OK. Miller invites readers into all these adventures with him as he discovers more of who he is.
If you're ready to write your own adventure, this book is one place to begin.

"Letters to Juliet" Review

In preparation for my trip to Italy in October, I am trying to watch and read all things Italian. Last night I watched "Letters to Juliet" at Arbor Cinema Gateway. I was happy to see I wasn't the only woman making the venture alone. While the movie is as romantically cheesy as you may imagine, I'd still suggest it to anyone who loves romantic comedies and happy endings.

Sophia, a young woman living in New York and working as a fact checker at the New Yorker wants her chance to become a writer. When her fiance and her take off for a pre-wedding honeymoon to Italy, she finds her fiance has plans to mix work with pleasure, asking her to visit vineyards and auctions with his clients.

Sophia ends up letting her fiance continue working as she goes off and explores Verona on her own. What she finds is a wall where heartbroken women write letters to Juliet. When she follows a lady collecting the letters, she finds out that a small group of women actually write these women back every day with solutions to their men problems.

When she begins helping them collect letters, she finds a 50-year-old letter behind a stone that falls from the wall from a woman named Claire. Claire was supposed to meet her prince and runaway, but go cold feet and ended up moving back to her home in England. Claire decides she must respond to Claire's letter and a few days later Claire arrives with her doesn't-believe-in-true-love grandson. The grandson ends up tagging along as Claire and Sophia take a journey to find Claire's lost love, Lorenzo.

Will Sophia and her fiance make it after all this separation? Will Claire find her true love? And can they change the grandson's mind about love? Find out the answers to all of this by watching "Letters to Juliet."


http://www.letterstojuliet-movie.com/

How Starbucks Saved My Life - Review

I finally got around to this book that continually kept popping up in front of me at bookstores, and I'm glad I did. One of those rare books that draws me in and doesn't let me go until I'm finished, I read it in less than 24 hours. I did not plan on spending my weekend in bed reading an entrancing story about how a head executive had to start his life over as a Starbucks employee in his sixties, but it was well worth the time spent.

Michael Gates Gill not only tells readers about his tale of finding his dream job as a barristo, but also threads in stories about the time he met Jackie Kennedy, Ernest Hemingway, Muhammad Ali and many more important figures. While these stories seemed to have an impression on Michael or "Mike" as he is known at the Starbucks he works for in New York, it seems his co-workers who turn friends have more of an impact on his life than any others.

Not only will you learn about why Starbucks is successful, but also reevaluate the meaning of success on a personal level.