And our Literary Getaway winners are....

I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day weekend and I appreciate the time taken to check out this blog,as well as your entries for the Literary Getaway contest. Choosing two winners turns out to be just as tricky as only selecting one. However,the choice has been made.

To start things off,the winner of the Asian Heritage Month set is......(long,drawn out pause)...DARBY'S CLOSET! Congratulations,Darby and please e-mail me at livingreadgirl@yahoo.com with your preferred mailing address to give to the prize committee at Grand Central.

We'll announce the winner of the Latino Book Month collection in just a moment,but first let's take a look at some of the favorite pop culture clips on Asian life listed in the comments this weekend:

Many of the Asian culture picks were from the movies,with a few book adaptations mentioned as well. Memoirs of a Geisha was a excellent translation of Arthur Golden's compelling novel to screen,despite the controversy over the casting. The character not only came to life before our eyes but the dancing talents of Sayuri were vividly portrayed for all audiences:



Raise the Red Lantern is also based on a novel,about the power struggles between the wives of a wealthy man during the China of the 1920s. The clashes for control are seen thru the eyes of the newly acquired fourth wife,who discovers many hidden family secrets as well as hidden talents of her rivals:



A movie that I have fond memories of along with some of you is The Last Emperor,which chronicled the life and times of the final man who held the seat of power at the Forbidden City. The true story was so well told that the long running time of the film seemed all too short,plus the visual look of the movie(shot on location,a real treat since it was the first time permission had been granted to film in the Forbidden City)is mouth watering good:





And now, for the winner of the Latino Book Month set to be awarded to....(more drawn out suspense)....M! Congrats to you,M and please send me your mailing addy at livingreadgirl@yahoo.com as well so that I can have the good folks at Grand Central ship your prize out to you as soon as possible.

To keep the party going,we have several clips of Latino pop culture picks from your suggestions. A mixture of books and movies were also brought,including one for Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter which was written by Mario Vargas Llosa. The novel was about a secret love affair becoming the plot fodder for a radio show in Lima,Peru during the fifties.

The book was made into a movie in 1990 and amongst the changes was the title,Tune In Tomorrow. The setting was changed to Louisiana and Keanu Reeves was given the lead role. How good or bad that turned out to be is debatable(didn't see the movie)but the book did get a lot of good reviews(unlike the silver screen version):



A more successful book to film adaptation was Laura Esquivel's Like Water For Chocolate. The tale of a woman forced to suppress her love for the man her sister was allowed to marry yet can release her inner passions via cooking is still considered one of the best uses of magic realism on page and screen:



Spanglish is one of those Adam Sandler trying to be serious movies but it does have enough humorous moments to carry him through to familiar territory. Paz Vega made her first American film debut here and is still making a splash on the silver screen(I recently saw her as Plaster of Paris in The Spirit):



There was one TV series mentioned,The George Lopez Show. I've seen a few episodes on Nick at Nite and it's pretty funny. My favorite character is Benny,George's less than maternal mom,who does inadvertently help her grandkids appreciate the good life they have at home:



Thanks again to everyone who entered and may your summer vacations be fun and fancy free,whether you stay safe and snug at home or go around the world in less than eighty days: