His Dark Materials

I've never really understood what all the fuss was about The Golden Compass. I read it a few years back and while there an anti-religious undertone, I never understood why Christian groups were so upset about it.

Recently, I listened to a full cast recording of all three books in the series: Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Of the three, The Subtle Knife is by far my favorite. I love conflict and this book is where all the action is. That and I really like Will and I find Lyra kind of annoying. Lyra spends most of this book in a drugged sleep--thank you Mrs. Coulter.

Throughout all three books, Lyra's relationship with her parents is fascinating. Azriel and Mrs. Coulter are such awful parents. Mrs Coulter grows to love Lyra in a very Emily Gilmore type of way ( I love you, but I refuse to get to know you--I'll just use my mental picture instead) but I'm not sure that Azriel loves her at all. I know he doesn't like her. The closest thing to love he ever shows her is grudging admiration.

I wasn't really happy with the ending. I understand why it ended the way it did, but I think that after I invested over 20hrs listening, it should have ended happier. These two kids sacrifice everything throughout the course of the story (including body parts) and still manage to carve out a little bit of happiness for themselves only to have it snatched away in the end.

The religious/anti-religious themes are blatant and at times Pullman comes across as preachy. I think that there will be a lot more backlash once the movie version of the Subtle Knife is released. They ended the Golden Compass before the audience learned of Azreil's agenda. It will only add more fuel to the ridiculous "war on christianity" fire.

April Socks

Well, I finally completed my April socks. These are the first socks I've ever done two at a time and I must say that I'm completely sold on the technique. Second sock syndrome is completely eliminated!

The pattern for these is "Magic Mirror" by Jeannie Cartmel. It's free on Ravelry. The design looks intricate and for the most part it is--but it's fairly easy to memorize. I'm not a huge fan of ktbl, but I have to say that the effect is pretty cool.

Next month's socks: Angee from the new book Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

Election

I have this vague memory of seeing the movie adaptation of Election by Tom Perotta. I can't really remember the details and I kind of feel like I didn't like it. I just don't think it was that memorable a movie.

When opened to the first pages of this book I was immediately hit with two realizations. First, the book is wayyyyyyy better than the movie. And second, Reese Witherspoon was perfectly cast as Tracy Flick. The second I started reading from Tracy's POV , all I could imagine was the movie Tracy.

The book alternates between a half a dozen characters in the first person and while I usually find this device annoying, the self-centeredness of the teenaged characters (and the adult characters too) lends it self well to the writing style.

This is is a short book and a fast read. I promise you'll laugh out loud.

A "Devine" Reading Experience

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman is one of those books that make you want to go out and buy the author's entire backlist as soon as you read it. This book is well-written, well-paced, funny, poignant and relevant. It's a really fast read and once you pick it up you won't want to put it down.

The story centers around a Jewish girl named Natalie Marx. The first part of the book takes place in the 60s during Natalie's childhood. After seeing an add for the title in in a magazine Natalie's mother writes the inn for information. The proprietress politely writes back "Gentiles Only".

This is Natalie's first experience with blatant anti-semitism. She quickly becomes obsessed with the inn. On a summer trip to Vermont she convinces her family to masquerade as gentiles to see if they can get a room.

The second part of the book takes place after Natalie graduates from college. A childhood friend is marrying the son of the proprietors. Natalie returns to the inn for the wedding and her life changes forever.

Part of the joy of this book is the way the author handles heavy subjects in this book with out being heavy-handed or preachy. Highly recommended.

Late Reading

Every once and a while I will purchase a book by one of my favorite authors and sometime between the time of purchase and the time I get home I will become absolutely dead set against reading it. On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn has been sitting on my bookshelf since 2006 and I finally convinced myself to read it last weekend.

This is the eighth and final book in the Bridgerton series and I'm glad that I read it. But unlike the other books in the series (with the exception of the one about Benedict) I won't ever read it again. I can't tell you what I didn't like about it--something just rubbed me the wrong way. I know that it's probably irrational, but that's just the way it is.

Movie 10, Book 8

Like many of my generation, I have seen The Princess Bride maybe a hundred times. I can quote large passages of it ad nauseum. But until recently, I had never even though about reading the book. I'm glad I did because it gave me a prime example of a situation where the movie is better than the book.

I don't mean to imply that the book is bad. It's a great book, it really is. But the movie is so much better.

Things I liked about the book:

• Cinematic imagery
• Fezzik rhyming (he even thinks in rhyme)
• Inigo's backstory

Things I could have done without:

• Anything written by Goldman in his own voice (unfortunately there is a lot of this)
• The long lost Buttercup's Baby sequel (don't even read it--it's not worth your time)

Overall, it's a really funny book that inspired a truly great movie. Well worth the effort.

P.S. If you're the type to check the reviews on Amazon before reading a book, be sure to read the reviews by people who don't realize that there is no S. Morgenstern and the book isn't really an abridgment at all. I can't tell whether they're meant to be serious or ironic--and that's what make them art.

The (REALLY) Thin Place

I've been trying really hard to formulate my thoughts about The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis. It's been really difficult. Not because I have too many thoughts, but because I really don't have any at all.

I heard about this book on NPR and they were just raving about it. I'm not sure they really read it. I only got halfway through and I gave up. I will stipulate that the author has a talent for prose. It really was some of the most evocative writing I've ever read. And her characters are incredibly fleshed out. The problem is that nothing happens. There are way too many characters and because there isn't a plot, there's really no way to keep them straight. Because there isn't a plot, the pacing is non-existent. The slow pace isn't helped by the short, disjointed chapters that hop between around 15 characters.

Reading this book is a chore. I would rather clean than read this book again (or finish it for the first time). I really hate to clean.