Where the Wild Things Are

I have been reading a lot about this movie lately. It seems to be one of those films that people either love or hate. I gladly went to see it and will never be sorry. I have a great lingering fondness for the book this movie is based on. In fact I always liked this book more than my children did. I don't consider this a children's film. Max Records,the child who plays Max in the film is mesmerizing. The camera loves this face and you can't stop watching him. I related to the fact that the wild things expressed a child's emotions and imagination. This is how it should be because after all this whole experience truly takes place in a child's imagination. The fact that the wild thing characters aren't complicated is as it should be. They are after all figments of a child's imaginary world and feeling. Based on that you should expect the pouting,anger and violent play. The time Max spends with his family is just as engaging as his time with the wild things. Any person who has children themselves can empathise with Max in this film. We have all watched our own children express these same emotions. I say bravo to Spike Jonze for going ahead with his vision and making a memorable film that feels like a revisit to childhood, maybe your own,maybe your child's. See the movie and view it in the spirit it was intended.

HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY

I recently read Audrey Niffenegger's new book HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY. I have been long awaiting this book after her last THE TIME TRAVELERS WIFE. I can't say I was disappointed. The characters are fascinating and well developed. The author definitely has a fondness for quirky people. While I saw early on where the book was heading the ending wasn't what I imagined. I'm not sure if this is a happy,heartwarming novel or not, I just can't decide. The more I pondered her last book I realized that Time Traveler didn't have a textbook happy ending and it still became one of my favorites. Niffenegger definitely knows how to weave a tale and this story is as original an idea as her last novel was. Fans of her work won't be disappointed in the least. Like Time Traveler , Her Fearful Symmetry is a novel I will reflect upon long after its left my shelf. I have passed my copy on to my sister and can only hope she gets as much enjoyment out of the story as I did.

Desert Island Question

I have recently been pondering the question what three books would you take with you if marooned on a desert island?
Unlike most people a question like that really gets stuck in my head as if my life depended on the correct answer so needless to say I have actually been thinking on this for a long while. The other day I had a small epiphany in regards to an answer. I have often wondered should I take survival books, or my favorite books, or complete collections by authors( also would that be cheating). I realize that I won't really be marooned on an island with these books so it doesn't really matter what I answer but it still keeps me up some nights. I was debating with myself if I brought my favorite books would they then become boring because it is all you would read for perhaps years when I started to wonder just how much time would one have to read on a desert island anyway. I have definitely decided one book that would be absolutely necessary must be a dictionary. The most complete dictionary possible. I think that if alone constantly with lots of work to do a dictionary it the greatest thing to read. Keeping the mind occupied learning new words and eventually using it to write your own tales would be a better use of time than a novel that will be soon memorized. I remember as a child looking through our family's dictionary. It was a fantastic thing filled with words and maps and lists of presidents and pictures of places and planets and other wonders. I'm not sure where that dictionary came from but I spent a lot of time with it and constantly wish I still had it for my own children's needs. So I have settled one book in my mind and now I just have to decide what the other two could be.........

NUMBERS

I was going over my bookshelf this weekend and made a list. I now own 114 unread books. That is not mentioning the 4 books that came into the post office today and are now in the car so I guess I own 118 I have read 34 books this year so far but have bought 58. Of the 58 I have read 18 the rest I already had. I'm not sure if I am making progress or not. I have been swapping books recently on paperbackswap which is a great site in my opinion and an easy way to trade off some books for credits. I have tried to keep track of the prices of the books I have bought but I didn't have the guts this weekend to find a total. I do know that a lot of the books on the list were bought used or swapped for free. I'm pretty sure that my overall total is going to rise soon because I have several books on the way as we speak. Hello...my name is Kathy.... and I am an addict.... If only we could get a support group together. Not only would a group provide moral support it could also triple as a book club and swap meet. Keep reading and I will do the same. I accept that I will never be one of those people to own or borrow one book at a time. There are just to many books and not nearly enough time.

Patterson

I have recently taken up James Patterson novels. Mass market thrillers are not my usual read and I don't often spend time on authors that crank out several books a year. Sure I read an occasional King book but for the most part mystery/thrillers aren't my think. I actually got Honeymoon on audio cd to start. I have a 40 minute commute to work and thought an book might be nice for a change( I live in Maine and good radio stations are hard to come by). I found myself almost to engrossed in the story to drive. Later a coworker who is a big fan of Patterson's claims that is one of his best books and I was glad to start with that. I decided to sample more and picked up 1ST TO DIE which is the first in his women's murder club series. I enjoyed this book almost as much as Honeymoon. I still have small problems with the cop thrillers as a whole. Some plot points seem a bit contrived but I was kept guessing to the end although I don't think the story itself was very probable. I am going to continue reading his books. I have ordered the second women's murder club series from paperbackswap.com and am going to slowly work my way through his other series. The problem I have with authors like this and the entire genre itself is that if I read to many in a row they all seem so similar and formula driven after awhile. I'm certain that as long as I mix in a good portion of my regular fiction and non-fiction choices I won't get bored to easily with his work. It certainly is easy to locate especially in used form. The most appealing thing about starting his work from the beginning is the amount of mass market paperback editions available will save me a bundle. I definitely think his works are worth reading. I have to hand it to Patterson because they all seem to be engrossing page turners and with short chapters its double easy to keep squeezing in a few more pages and chapters.