Here is a pretty good description of the book taken from Amazon:

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution with an automatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition that he brought for the task. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old, begged Roberts to “shoot me first and let the little ones go.” Refusing her offer, he opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? “I’m angry at God for taking my little daughter,” he told the children before the massacre.The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried. The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children.

The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime. Of the hundreds of media queries that the authors received about the shooting, questions about forgiveness rose to the top. Forgiveness, in fact, eclipsed the tragic story, trumping the violence and arresting the world’s attention.

Within a week of the murders, Amish forgiveness was a central theme in more than 2,400 news stories around the world. The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live, Fox News, Oprah, and dozens of other media outlets heralded the forgiving Amish. From the Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) to Australian television, international media were opining on Amish forgiveness. Three weeks after the shooting, “Amish forgiveness” had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites.

Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their own children, grieving Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer’s burial. Roberts’ widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greeted her and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk and graveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for the shooter’s family.

AMISH GRACE explores the many questions this story raises about the religious beliefs and habits that led the Amish to forgive so quickly. It looks at the ties between forgiveness and membership in a cloistered communal society and ask if Amish practices parallel or diverge from other religious and secular notions of forgiveness. It will also address the matter of why forgiveness became news. “All the religions teach it,” mused an observer, “but no one does it like the Amish.” Regardless of the cultural seedbed that nourished this story, the surprising act of Amish forgiveness begs for a deeper exploration. How could the Amish do this? What did this act mean to them? And how might their witness prove useful to the rest of us?

The Lifetime Movie Network also released a film adaption last year (2010) starring Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tammy Blanchard and Matt Letscher. The movie received many positive reviews, however, it also received criticism because the authors of “Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy” distanced themselves from the production out of respect to the Amish community. Compared to the book the movie is pretty good but obviously is not able to explain the reasoning behind forgiveness as easily as the book can. The movie covers more of the “story” whereas the book has more of a “documentary” feel to it. All in all – wow!! What a powerful message!! If you are like me and have a “fascination” with the Amish, or even if you are puzzled as to why the Amish are able to forgive so easily then this is definitely a must read!!

Exactly 9 months and 24 days after the iPad’s launch in the US, the iPad is set to launch in South Africa. Actually, it is launching tomorrow (28 Jan)…

Is this launch too late? Probably so, seeing the iPad 2 is rumoured to launch in April (or so they say). Surprisingly enough Core has come to the party with the pricing – definitely competitive considering this is an Apple product in South Africa (which we would expect do be waaaaay overpriced).

Recommended retail prices set by Core

Now that Galaxy Tab offer (RRP of R7999 for the 16GB version) doesn’t look so good anymore hey If I had bought my iPad from a local importer then I’d probably be kicking myself about now. Fortunately I bought mine on a trip abroad and thus paid less than Core’s price (not much less though). Guess the only question now for newbies interested in getting an iPad is: do you buy the current model (at a decent price) or wait for the next gen believed to be launching soon… I can’t answer that – probably depends on how desperate you are to have one

If you do decide to pick one of these up, here is a list of stores (that Core listed on their website) that will be stocking them:

Apple Premium Resellers
Digicape Cape Town
iStore Canal Walk
iStore Clearwater
iStore Gateway
iStore Melrose Arch
iStore Menlyn
iStore 1 Sandton Drive
iStore Sandton City
iStore Vodaworld
iStore Waterfront
Project 3

Incredible Connection
Incredible Connection Bloemfontein
Incredible Connection Canal Walk
Incredible Connection Cavendish
Incredible Connection Centurion
Incredible Connection Cresta
Incredible Connection East Rand Retail Park
Incredible Connection Eastgate
Incredible Connection Fourways
Incredible Connection Gateway
Incredible Connection Menlyn
Incredible Connection Nelspruit
Incredible Connection Pavillion
Incredible Connection Sandton
Incredible Connection Somerset West
Incredible Connection The Glen
Incredible Connection Woodmead

Dion Wired
Dion Wired Bedford Square
Dion Wired Fourways
Dion Wired Gateway
Dion Wired Hyde Park
Dion Wired Somerset West
Dion Wired Woodlands
Dion Wired Woodmead

Myself being a major Spud fan, obviously I went and watched it again – just have to show my support So, have any of you seen it yet? If so, what did you think?? If you haven’t seen it yet then do yourself a favour and head over to you nearest cinema ASAP to go watch it!! You don’t even have to read the book to watch the movie – the story-line from the book is depicted pretty well in the movie

Let’s hope the movie is a great success so that it can go international and hopefully a second movie can be made too – holding thumbs

Spud (Troye Sivan) with The Guv (John Cleese)

I was lucky enough to attend the first “Spud” premiere at Monte Casino in Johannesburg Saturday night. Wow guys, oh my word, WOW!!! Now, I personally am very fussy when it comes down to being impressed – I expect a lot out of events, movies etc. and am most often disappointed when things don’t pan out as they should. Well, like I said earlier – WOW!!! I was totally blown away by the “Spud” premiere!! It didn’t meet my expectations – it totally surpassed my expectations and then exceeded them even more!! Seriously!!

Troye Sivan (Spud) being interviewed. Image courtesy of Danielle Brock (www.zoopy.com/daniellebrock)

We arrived at the Premiere and were promptly handed paper ties to wear. Absolutely everyone was wearing their “school tie” – it looked awesome!! They deco was also amazing!!! From chalkboards with rules written on them to a tuck shop (with real sweets) to dictionaries and crayons on the tables. Even the waiters (yes, there was also real food) were dressed up as Michaelhouse students with prefect badges. Everyone looked the part. There was no doubt that we were entering the realms of high school again (Michaelhouse, nonetheless) - a real walk down memory lane After mingling around, taking pics at the photo booths, getting hyper on cold drinks and sweets, we gathered around the centre stage where we were introduced to Ross Garland (producer); Donovan Marsh (director); John van de Ruit (author); Troye Sivan (Spud); John Cleese (The Guv) and The Crazy 8 with Mermaid and Amanda.

I expect John Cleese to adopt Troye Sivan when he comes back to SA to film the the second movie – hehe We then huddled off to the 3 allocated cinemas where we were greeted with a choice of cold drinks at the door and popcorn on our seats. No queues – how awesome it that? And the movie began…

John Cleese (The Guv) being interviewed. Image courtesy of Danielle Brock (www.zoopy.com/daniellebrock)

Ok, I really don’t want to give too much away here – even though most of you have read the book and know the story line pretty well – I don’t want to spoil it for those few who haven’t read the book…yet What I can say is that most book to screen adaptions are, well – ugh! Yes, that’s the word for them – ugh… I personally only know a handful of book to screen adaptions that have been satisfactory (not gonna mention any names here – think vampires and wolves as well as a certain school of wizardry). As far as “Spud” is concerned – superb, first-rate adaption!! It takes a lot of hard work to redraft a 380 page novel to a 120 page screenplay. And man, have they pulled it off!! If you enjoyed the book you will absolutely loooove the movie!! And if you haven’t read the book yet, well you gonna loooove the movie too Get ready to laugh and cry (literally) during the film… Awe-inspiring performances by the two stars – John Cleese and Troye Sivan. John Cleese, as you all know, is astounding! Whilst Troye Sivan – remember that name – this little man is going to go far!! The rest of the cast (Crazy 8, girls, family at home, teachers, students and everyone else) wow – you guys were exquisite!

Unfortunately, after the screening, John Cleese made a dash for the door. But not to worry – we then got to mingle with the rest of the cast whilst enjoying some more snacks and cappuccino. Troye and the Crazy 8, girls, students, family – what an amazing and crazy bunch You all rock!! I was then also fortunate enough to have my “Spud” novel (movie tie-in edition) autographed by the cast and of course John van de Ruit – schweeeeet

My autographed copy of "Spud". SCHWEET

Thanx so much to MTN and Nu Metro for hosting the event – you guys are AYOBA!! Thanx also to absolutely everyone involved with the making of the film – this is definitely a South African production you guys can be most proud of!! You guys have set a new standard by which all other South African films will be judged…

Now go out, tell your friends, spread the word, 3 December is the day!! I’m definitely heading back to the cinema to watch “Spud” again on the 3rd – hope to see you all there

The Crazy Eight

Face-Box just posted there photo booth pics up from the evening. Here are some random and funky ones of the cast

There are basically 4 ways of entering the competition:

• MTN 1-4-1 entries
• Blog entries
• Facebook entries
• Twitter entries

So, definitely enough ways of entering the competition hey Head over to the MTN Spud Competition page to find out how to enter in one of the categories above…

Hurry!! Entries close this Monday 8 November at noon!!! Competition has been extended to Wednesday 10 November, noon

Good luck and hopefully I’ll see some of you at the premieres – assuming I win some tickets too – hehe

Times Live posted the following article earlier today [taken from here]:

Spud, based on John van de Ruit’s best-selling novel, will make its worldwide premiere in Johannesburg on 13 November.

The movie was filmed at the exclusive boys’ school Michaelhouse in the KZN Midlands earlier this year.

British actor John Cleese will join the local cast and crew and author van de Ruit for the Johannesburg premiere. Additional premieres will also take place in Cape Town on 17 November and in Durban on 19 November.

“All of us who have read SPUD now have the opportunity to relive the side-splitting adventures of the Crazy 8 on the big screen. Once again, MTN is proud to be associated with these prestigious South African events. We are passionate about supporting South African talent, and SPUD gives us another opportunity to do so.” says Megan Ashman, General Manager at MTN.

The movie also features Troye Sivan as Spud and model Tanit Phoenix as Eve.

So, who’s planning on attending one of the premieres??

The new “Spud” trailer was released a day or two ago – it dives a bit deeper into the story and shows a few more scenes from the book. Really great trailer!! Enjoy!!

NuMetro has also mentioned in a tweet that the movie’s release date has been moved out a week from 26 November to 3 December – apparently to give “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” a bit of breathing space

If you haven’t read the book yet (shame on you), here is a quick description taken from Amazon:

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

Even though the book is available in English (not too sure if Tatiana originally wrote it in English or if it was translated unlike her previous novels that were written in French, this is the first novel she has written in English – thanx for the info Kristin) the movie is still in French. The movie’s official title is “Elle s’appelait Sarah” which directly translated means – Her Name Was Sarah. Yes, the two names differ quite a lot but at least they are both apt names Now just hoping the movie has English subtitles (sure it will though). The film is premiering in France on 13 October 2010.

I have update the video below with one that contains English subtitles

Here is a different trailer

Bonus: some photos from the movie can be found here or here

The evening started off with a bit of champagne and small dinner – thanx Exclusive Books for the catering Then Jodi read a passage from “House Rules” and had a quick Q & A session. I even had one of my questions answered

Then the signing began – had two of my books autographed as well as my Kindle!! Jodi did say that this is not the first time she has autographed a Kindle – he he Now in about 3-4 weeks I’ll be passing my Kindle down to my sister in Australia (seeing I’ve pre-ordered the new one). She better take good care of it

Thanx to Jodi Picoult for stopping by good old South Africa on her tour – not often we get such highly renowned authors paying us a visit…

Message on Amazon's Kindle page

Wow!! That was fast!! Visitors to Amazon’s Kindle page are being greeted with the message above.

In under a week Amazon has officially sold out their first batch of pre-orders for the new Kindle. Users who pre-order now will be placed on a waiting list with a first come, first served basis. The second batch of Kindles are expected to be released on 4 September (compared to 27 October for the first batch).

I’m glad I’ve pre-ordered mine already Have you?