rhinoa

Books Read in 2007

2007-12-31T02:23:27Z

This is a list of all the books I read in 2007 (for reviews see my Blogger page or LibrarThing where I use the name Rhinoa as well). I set out aiming to read 50 which I upped to 75 and then ended up reading 101 in total. I hope to aim for 100 again next year. My overall favourite was Lolita, but I really enjoyed most of them for different reasons.

1) Mythago Wood - Robert Holdstock
2) Anastasia Krupnik - Lois Lowry
3) Anastasia Again - Lois Lowry
4) Anastasia at your service - Lois Lowry
5) Anastasia ask your analyst - Lois Lowry
6) Anastasia on her own - Lois Lowry
7) Anastasia's chosen career - Lois Lowry
8) Anastasia has the answers - Lois Lowry
9) Anastasia at this address - Lois Lowry
10) Anastasia absolutely - Lois Lowry
11) Earth Wisdom - Glennie Kindred
12) Pies and Prejudice - Stuart Macone
13) Living Paganism - Shanddardman
14) The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett
15) The Truth - Terry Pratchett
16) Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
17) To the lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
18) A charmed life - Teresa Moorey
19) Medea and other plays - Euripides
20) Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
21) Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
22) Stories and Tales - Hans Christian Andersen
23) Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
24) The Five of Cups - Wendy Mewes
25) Moon Called - Patricia Briggs
26) 13 Moons - Fiona Walker-Craven
27) Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett
28) Night Watch - Terry Pratchett
29) Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
30) One Hundred years of solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
31) The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran
32) The Blue Girl - Charles de Lint
33) Ancestors of Avalon - Marian Zimmer Bradley
34) Witchcraft from the inside - Raymond Buckland
35) Lord of the Flies - William Golding
36) Othello - William Shakespeare
37) Guilty Pleasures Laurell K Hamilton
38) The Laughing Corpse - Laurell K Hamilton
39) Circus of the Damned - Laurell K Hamilton
40) The Lunatic Cafe - Laurell K Hamilton
41) Bloody Bones - Laurell K Hamilton
42) The Killing Dance - Laurell K Hamilton
43) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
44) One Thousand and One Arabian Nights - Geraldine McCaughrean
45) The Epic of Gilgamesh
46) Fables: Legends in Exile - Bill Willingham
47) Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett
48) The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby
49) The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell
50) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
51) The Iliad - Homer
52) The Ice Queen - Alice Hoffman
53) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
54) Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss
55) Housekeeping vs The Dirt - Nick Hornby
56) A Chalice of Wind - Cate Tiernan
57) My Dead Girlfriend - Eric Wight
58) A Circle of Ashes
59) A Feather of Stone - Cate Tiernan
60) The Odyssey - Homer
61) A Necklace of Water - Cate Tiernan
62) The Worst Witch all at Sea - Jill Murphy
63) Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
64) Life of Pi - Yann Martel
65) The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe
66) Dracula - Bram Stoker
67) Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
68) Chocolat - Joanne Harris
69) Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
70) Fables: Animal Farm - Bill Willingham
71) Blood Bound - Patricia Briggs
72) Genome - Matt Ridley
73) Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
74) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
75) Through the Looking-Glass - Lewis Carroll
76) Waifs and Strays - Charles de Lint
77) Beloved - Toni Morrison
78) Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
79) The Giver - Lois Lowry
80) Varjak Paw - SF Said
81) The Outlaw Varjak Paw - SF Said
82) A Short history of nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
83) Princess Ai Volume 1 - Misaho Kujiradou, Courtney Love, DJ Milky
84) Princess Ai Volume 2 - Misaho Kujiradou, Courtney Love, DJ Milky
85) Metamorphoses - Ovid
86) Indian Tales and Legends - J.E.B Gray
87) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
88) Hamlet - William Shakespeare
89) Princess Ai Volume 3 - Misaho Kujiradou, Courtney Love, DJ Milky
90) Enigma - Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo
91) A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
92) Foxmask - Juliet Marillier
93) The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory
94) A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
95) Stray - Vicky Allan
96) Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
97) Going Postal - Terry Pratchett
98) Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
99) Survival of the Fittest - Jeff Mariotte (Charmed)
100) The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
101) Felidae - Akif Pirincci

Back from Egypt

2007-10-31T09:56:43Z

It's been a crazy month. First we moved house and then we went away for 11 days to Egypt. We got back on Monday at 2am when Alex started his new job and I went straight back to work. It wasn't exactly a relaxing holiday although it was great. We had our first group-tour experience and both enjoyed it despite having hardly any free time or privacy. It meant we could see everything we wanted to and travel around with it all organised for us. Cairo is mental so it was definitely the right way to do it!

We saw:
The pyrimids at GizaThe Sphinx
The step pyrimid at Saqqara
Cairo's market Khan el Khalili (the oldest in the Middle East)
A papyrus making factory
Sleeper train from Cario to Aswan
Sound and Light show at Abu Simbel
Special sunrise at Abu Simbel temple that illuminates the statues inside except for Ptah (happens only twice a year)
Philae Temple
Felucca cruise up the Nile for 2 days
Kom Ombo Temple
Edfu Temple
Snake charmer (I held two snakes)
Whirling Dervish dancer
Hot air balloon ride over Luxor at sunrise
The Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Queens
Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple (Hatshepsut's Temple)
Karnak Temple
The Egyptian Museum
An authentic perfume shop

So yeah no sleep! I took lots of photos but still haven't found my camera lead to upload them all. Will keep looking and hopefully find it soon. Might look into a card reader and get one if it isn't too expensive as I have about 3 memory cards filled with photos to take off.

Teeth and Targets

2007-10-03T09:35:13Z

Today I woke up and one side of my face is really sore. One of my wisdom teeth has broken through my gum and split it in two and my glands on that side of my face are up as well. I have just developed a cold too so feeling pretty sorry for myself today. My teeth can't seem to make their mind up and I really want to have my remaining three taken out. This one hasn't given me problems before, it's usually the other two going up and down that bother me. Must sort it out next month when I get my bonus and can afford it...

I got my years figures through today. I hit one set of targets and just missed out on the other. I will get two bonuses this month and have my yearly apprasial where I get to ask for a payrise. I have asked the office to send me a bunch of figures over to prepare for my meeting which will hopefully give me what I want. If not I had a message from a recruitment company this morning saying they have a job to run past me so I guess I will wait and see what they have. I will use most of my bonus to pay off my overdraft and possibly put a bit towards the mortgage capital and then spend some on Amazon to treat myself. I worked hard for the targets I hit and did my best for the other set so I feel some money should be spent on fun stuff :)

Council

2007-09-28T08:23:18Z

I fucking hate the council around here. We moved house into a controlled parking zone area so I applied for a permit last week. It hasn't arrived yet (knowing my luck it will get here today) so last night after loading up with shopping I left the car outside our place and decided to get up early and move it. It was on a single yellow line which is fine to park on out of hours, but I put two wheels on the pavement. At 23.09 last night they put a fucking ticket on it. Grrr it's so stupidly frustrating.

Moved House

2007-09-25T11:02:43Z

We moved into our new flat last Monday (we were first time buyers so now owe stupid amounts of money) after a last minute packing frenzy. I started packing a week early so not sure how so much ended up being last minute as I have about 30-40 boxes packed... The move itself went fine and the new place is lovely. I took a week off work and spent most of it painting as it was a bit old ladyish. I have finished two rooms now and will do two more later in the year (done front room and spare room, got the study and our bedroom to do later on). I had to do it quickly so the paint could dry and we could get the kitties back from my parents-in-law. I haven't done any painting before and it was really fun, very relaxing for the most part. I have also put together our new double bed and various other bits of furniture. All we really need now is a couple of sofas, a kitchen bin, some cutlery and a new set of plates.

The cats came back Sunday night (the gloss I did on Saturday took ages to dry) and spent an evening being confused and exploring. Both seem to have settled in now though, bless them they are very good and adaptable. We tried to cat proof the stairs to stop them running out the front door when we open it (they are indoor moggies), but have not succeeded so far. They are being good though so far...

I have a ton of work to catch up on this week as my targets for the year end this month and I want a nice bit of commission. I am slow close I can almost feel the money... Going to see Sean Hughes on Wednesday do his comedy which I am really looking forward to and then Incubus on Sunday which was postponed from April. I have wanted to see them live for years so am really looking forward to it.

Birthday Randomness

2007-09-11T02:10:40Z

http://bp2.blogger.com/_-Z4wYfiwh2Y/RuX2ek_JGUI/AAAAAAAAAB0/itNbM9-5v9w/s1600-h/image-upload-1-760927.jpe

It's been a very random start to my birthday. We DJ'd as usual on the 10th which of course carried us over into the 11th so at midnight I took over the decks. We usually play hip hop, r'n'b, house and trance music as they usually play a lot of indie, but I haven't listened to much punk lately so played some of that for my birthday. The poor customers were confused bless! I played for about an hour and ahalf before Alex took over again.

Ouside I was chatting to some friends when a fight broke out by the door. A girl got punched in the face and I ended up looking after her until the police took her away to make a statement. She was on her second date and didn't have any friends or people she really knew with her so I stayed with her and comforted her as well as administering basic first aid. I gave her my number and told her to text me later to make sure she got home ok and I really hope she does...

After I went back inside we finished our set and there was a man asleep opposite the DJ booth. As it was the end of the night and the bar staff are a bunch of bastards they got a load of shot glasses (in the end about 15) and filled them with water. They then balanced them on the poor man (see the photo at the top). He had to be woken up at the end with the rest of the customers gathered around him taking photos upon which he proceeded to down all the "shots" before stumbling home. Very amusing and that will teach anyone to get too drunk and except to be looked after!

So now I am off to bed I guess so I can sleep before opening my (hidden) presents and spend a day out doing something fun!

Oh and my ginger hair can be seen at the link below:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_-Z4wYfiwh2Y/RuHob0_JGTI/AAAAAAAAABs/5X_RRfkbPwY/s1600-h/image-upload-57-723489.jpe

Ginger!

2007-09-08T11:17:08Z

I got bored of being blond and am now ginger! I love it, it looks so much better and richer and is all shiny and glossy. I am naturally blond but started dying my hair black back when I was 17 after experimenting with purple for a while. I went back to blond at Christmas last year and just in time for my birthday on Tuesday I have gone for a change. No one has seen it yet except my husband so it will be intersting to see if people like it or not.

Other random news I went to a sci-fi type convention and met loads of cool people. Famous ones include Dominic Monaghan, Tom Baker, Toyah Willcox, Robert Rankin, Dudley/Seamus/Colin Creevy from Harry Potter, Oompa Lumpa/Yoda, R2-D2 and loads more. Was a lot of fun and I bought some cool new manga books. I got my photo taken with a couple including Dom and some autographs and generally enjoyed being a big geek for the day :)

Off to the Trocodero Centre today as I have always wanted to play Dance Dance Reveloution hehe. Probably get some people together Monday night when we DJ for a birthday celebration if anyone is around South London area. Inbetween we got a load of boxes today and the packing has begun...

Finally...

2007-08-28T15:30:22Z

Well after a horrible week and a weekend of worrying we finally exchanged contracts on our flat today. We managed to get indemnity policies from the vendor for the lease issues and we had to pay for an indemnity policy today as they were worried about us doing 100% mortgage and not paying a deposit. Completion date scheduled for September 17th and there shouldn't be any more problems *fingers crossed* I am sure I should feel relieved and happy, but right now I am just exhausted.

Good news though, because I am sad I ordered a replica of the book of shadows they use in the TV show Charmed a few months ago. It finally came today from France and has amazing artwork in it of all the pages from the show. It's my guilty pleasure show (that and Sabrina the Teenage Witch which I just bough season one of yesterday).

Climbing

2007-08-25T20:13:59Z

I spent today with a friend, his cousin and girlfriend at an indoor climbing centre in North London. It was so much fun! I climbed a massive wall all the way to the top as well as having a go at a few others. I tried one where you climb in a cavern and go across the wall upside down. I was able to get across the ceiling, but couldn't quite get down the other side. Seeing as it was my first time I am pretty damn chuffed!

For photos see [url]http://yarart272.blogspot.com/

rhinoa @ 2007-08-22T15:51:00

2007-08-22T14:51:42Z

I'm so frustrated right now I could cry. We had so many problems trying to buy a flat we backed out in the end and found another one that we liked even better anyway. We were hoping to exchange contracts on Friday and complete September 17th and finally move in to our new place. There has been a complication with the lease that means a Deed of Variation needs doing which will take at least a month to complete. This means that our vendors will miss out on the property they are buying and will further delay things. We had things nicely set up so we could book a holiday in October and A could change jobs starting when we got back. This is really going to complicate things and will mean delaying our holiday even further. I am tempted to give our notice on the flat we are renting and stay with A's parents for a month possibly two with our stuff in storage as we need to give a month's notice which will slow things down more when the deed is complete.

Films films films

2007-08-19T10:00:24Z

I spent yesterday afternoon in the cinema (I went to my favourite one in Wandsworth Town which has 14 screens and is very comfortable) and saw 3 films. First was the wonderful Eagle Vs Shark, a very quirky love story in New Zealand. It had a similar style to Napoleon Dynamite and Garden State following outsider Lily who has a crush on Jarrod. Very funny and unique, I definately recommend it. After that I saw Rush Hour 3. It was more to fill the time between two films I actually wanted to see. After seeing Eagle Vs Shark I watched the opening scene and thought shit this is going to be aweful. After it got going a bit though it was really good fun. The usual Jackie Chan/American side-kick movie, it had some excellently choreographed fight scenes and jokes. The plot wasn't great, but it didn't stop it being good fun. Chris Tucker even kicked some ass and wasn't reduced to bumbling American. George the French cab driver was a great secondary character addition. License to Wed is another comedy about a couple who want to get married. They sign up to a marriage course which the reverend (Robin Williams) makes mandatory for all couples who want to get married in his church. It involves driving blindfolded while the other directs, looking after creepy robot baby twins and word associating with the in-laws. Good fun but actually not as memorable as Ruch Hour 3.

Brighton

2007-08-13T09:22:48Z

My weekend in Brighton was really fun. I met my friend Sam on Saturday at 12 and we hit the shops in the North Laines before catching up sitting on the beach. I haven't seen her in over a year and a lot has changed for both of us so we spent most of our time chatting and looking at the sea. After Sam left I walked over to Sarah's (another friend I haven't seen for about a year) and stayed with her. We recreated our first year at uni and watched Eddie Izzard dvds and ate Sara Lee double chocolate gateaux yum. Unfortunately I had gotten completely sunburnt on the beach and am now sore and red! I got blisters off some new flip flops as well, but it was still worth the visit. I got a couple of great graphic novels in Brighton and a book on Hindu Gods which I am looking forward to reading.

New Resolution

2007-08-11T09:01:41Z

I have not really been using my Live Journal account for a little while now. I think it's because I have a blogger account and use that for book and film reviews. I did cross post for a while but there doesn't seem much point. After having a think I have decided to use this as more of a daily journal and post about more random stuff, what I am up to and what I am thinking about.

I am off to Brighton this morning till tomorrow afternoon sometime to see a couple of friends from university that I haven't seen for over a year. It should be cool to catch up and see what they are both up to. I am pretty skint until next week now so I have to refrain from shopping which is a bit of a pain but nevermind. I am looking forward to sitting on the beach and watching the sea for a while if it isn't too busy down there.

I went to The Black Sheep Bar in Croydon last night to meet my husband. He had something to give me but didn't give me any clues as to what it was. It turned out to be a giant cookie (about 30cms by 30cms) with dark chocolate chips and icing around the edges saying I Love you Katie in red and vanilla icing. I have eaten about half so far, it's really tasty but quite sweet. He's the best :)

Housekeeping vs The Dirt - Nick Hornby

2007-08-01T13:56:02Z

Rating : 5.0/5
Reason for Reading : To complete the series as I loved The Polysyllabic Spree so much

This anthology follows on from The Polysyllabic Spree, chronicling the reading habits of English author Nick Hornby. It continues with his columns in The Believer magazine in a similar style to the first book. It contains min-reviews, extracts from some of his favourite books and his great sense of humour.

I loved this as much as the first collection. I got more book recommendations from this one than the first. Housekeeping and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson both look really interesting. Also Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kerkov, Citizen Vince by Jess Walter and Persepolis a graphic novel about life in Iran by Marjane Satropi (I have bought a copy already! My best friend read these two books by Hornby before me and was able to pass on this graphic novel recommendation).

This series of books is perfect for anyone who loves books and loves the process of reading. If anyone buys The Believer in America can they let me know if he is still writing a column and what the rest of the magazine is like please. Cheers!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss

2007-07-30T14:39:01Z

Rating : 3.0/5
Reason for Reading : Book Awards Challenge

Subtitled "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation", this isn't a grammatical how-to book, it's about the correct use of punctuation. It starts by looking at the different meanings you can give to the same passage of text without changing the words, just the placement of the punctuation. For example compare the two passages:

Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?
Jill

With:

Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You gave ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Jill

It then spends a bit of time talking about the main punctuation marks including the full stop, comma, apostrophe, exclaimation mark, question mark, colon and semicolon. She gives you the correct use of each and then a little time is spent on some examples showing how correct use changes the meaning of a sentence.

It was quite funny in places, but it didn't really tell me much that I didn't know already (except perhaps about the semicolon which I have never used). I think the main problem with this book is that people who already use punctuation are the type of people who will be interested in reading this book. Those who are unsure or don't really bother with it will see it as boring and pedantic and therefore not read it. This mostly defeats it's purpose!

The Ice Queen - Alice Hoffman

2007-07-26T00:48:49Z

Rating : 4.5/5
Reason for Reading : TBR Challenge

The beautiful tale follows a little girl after making a wish that changes the rest of her life forever. She becomes icey cold as a result, like the little boy in the Snow Queen fairy tale, and forgets how to love and be loved. Growing up, she moves and one day she is struck by lightening whilst standing in her kitchen and again her life is changed. Instead of dying, she becomes even more icey and isolated.

A morbid fascination with death and dying since she was young, she looks for Lazarus Jones, a fellow lightening attack survivor. He was pronounced dead and taken to the morgue, but suddenly was revived and returns to life. She goes to him seeking the secret of death and instead finds the fire to her ice.

This was a beautiful, poignant, moving and terribly sad tale which I really loved. I would love to see a film adaptation done well of this novel. The supporting characters were interesting and flawed in their own unique way. Rennie is a fellow survivor whose hands are deformed and he has to wear gloves. He shows her his secret at night time when he takes off the gloves he always wears and she sees his hands glow gold. At the time of the strike he was wearing a watch and ring that have been imprinted into his wrists. The gold somehow merged with the fat in his hands and wrists causing the glow. Her brother Ned and his wife Nina are also interesting being very scientific and logical and it is only later in the book that you really get to know them.

There are lots of references to different fairy tales which I really enjoyed and it is very tempting to read The Brothers Grimm tales next. The main message I took away is that it is a persons percieved flaws that make them beautiful to others.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling

2007-07-21T23:39:04Z

Rating : 4.5/5

Reason for reading : To finish the series

This randomly turned out to be the fifthieth book I have read this year. At the beginning of the year I set myself the task of reading 50 which I thought was aiming too high, but turns out I was very wrong! I went to the midnight opening of my local Waterstones to pick up my copy I had paid for last month and saw a couple of people in costume which was pretty cool. I came home but was too tired to start it last night so started it this morning with the intention of not leaving my flat, using the computer or turning on the TV until I had finished it so as to avoid any spoilers.

It picks up a little while after book 6 finished off. Harry and his friends are still in shock that Dumbeldore is dead and set out to fulfil their mission of finding the remaining horcruxes. In the meantime Voldemort has returned and to power and is causing chaos in both the magical and the muggle world. Will Harry and his friends be able to find and figure out what the horcruxes are as well as figure out a way to destroy them before it is all too late...

***SPOILERS*** ( I have tried not to give too much away but it's really hard to review it without discussing bits sorry)

The book starts very fast paced with lots of shocks and sad surprises from the very beginning. My husband had made many jokes about Hedwig before the book came out and was amused to be right in his prediction. I suppose he wasn't really needed in this book, but still. After the first couple of hundred pages it really slowed down though as time was spent with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they try to avoid being caught and to plan their next move. Things started to pick up again once they are accidentally caught and recognised. From there it's just one thing after another really with the trio getting closer to a final battle and showdown.

The saddest part was the needless death of a loved character by the evil Bellatrix near the middle and then my favourite character was cruely killed near the end. It came at a point where I couldn't really stop and mourn their passing as it was right in the middle of the action and I wanted to see how it all ended so I kept going. Oh and Snape, what can I say, just read the chapter The Prince's Tale and I defy you not to cry. The ending was suitable, but the last chapter seemed a little much in all honesty and felt a little too sentimental. The other part I didn't like was the chapter entitled Kings Cross, which seemed very surreal and out of place with the rest of the book.

***End Spoilers***

All-in-all, although not the best writer, Rowling certainly can tell a story and keep you wanting more. I think most fans will enjoy this book. Very dark for the most part, it certainly gets your emotions going in all different directions.

Lord of the Rings - The Musical

2007-05-15T23:25:16Z

I have been looking forward to seeing this since I first heard it was going ahead. We decided to go and see it today as it was our one year wedding anniversary yesterday and it wasn't being performed on Monday's. We paid for the second price tickets as they are reduced with it being on preview for a few weeks.

It's a hard musical to review. As musicals go, it was aweful. The songs weren't memorable (being that they were Tolkien's poetry I guess it isn't surprising), I can't hum a single tune and I only got home frmo seeing it an hour ago. Gandallf was awful, he talked too fast and just didn't seem to have got into the role. Galadriels costume was terrible, she looked like Shirley Bassey or someone... They also missed out a lot of the plot like the Rohirrin, Tom Bombadil, Worntongue, Faramir and it jumped around a fair bit. The elves were laughable in general. When they spoke they did a sort of sign language which had me giggling and imitating it. Oh and the Balrog looked like a big bat...

On the plus side, the set was truely amazing and visually it was a stunning piece of theatre. The lighting likewise. The movements and dance of the ensemble and the way they danced/acted the battles was beautiful. The Orcs and Gollum were particularly impressive. A couple of the songs were really beautiful, particularly one that Sam and Frodo did by themselves. Shelob was very cool as well as the Black Riders with their steeds and the Ents with their stilts, I loved the way they were brought to life and done to such great scale.

Overall, I would recommend seeing it for yourself. It's long and the seats are uncomfortable so be warned. Try viewing it as a theatre production rather than a musical.

* out of 5 as a musical

**** out of 5 as a performance

The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

2007-05-09T13:00:40Z

A lovely short book I have had on my shelf since my uncle bought it for me for Christmas 1996! It tells the tale of the prophet Almustafa who is about to leave the town he has spent much of his life, Orphalese. Before he leaves the townsfolk gather to ask him questions about everything from love, wedding, friendship to clothing, teaching and death. His answers are beautiful and there are so many beautiful quotes to make note of.

On Love:
"Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstacy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

On Self Understanding:
"Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul."
Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals."

His own illustrations are beautiful and work really well in black and white. This is definately a book I will be reading again and referring back to for inspiration.

**** out of 5

Cinema Time Again

2007-04-28T21:24:01Z

I saw three films today, all very different and all very good!

Away From Her

I hadn't heard of this film until I was looking online at what to go and see today. The blurb looked interesting on the cineworld website so I thought why not? "Married for 50 years, Grant and Fiona's commitment to each other appears unwavering. This serenity is broken only by the occasional reference to the past, giving a sense that this marriage may not always have been such a fairy tale. This tendency of Fiona's to make such references creates a tension that is usually brushed off by both of them. But as the lapses become more obvious and dramatic, it is no longer possible for them to ignore the fact that Fiona is suffering from Alzheimer's disease."

It doesn't really do the film justice. Julie Christie plays Fiona and Gordon Pinsent plays her husband Grant and are both fantastic in their roles. Grant is the devoted husband as his wife starts to slip further and further from him as the Alzheimer's she suffers from worsens and she forgets who he is to her. He struggles to give her what she needs to keep her happy, despite the hurt it causes him. Part of it seems to be guilt from an event in their past that Fiona mentions occassionally.

This was a really touching and sad film which looks at how people with Alzheimer's are cared for, the other people in their lives that it effects and taking them away from their family to be looked after. Worth seeing but maybe wait until it comes out on dvd and rent it.

*** out of 5

Curse of the Golden Flower

This is not the type of film I would usually go and see in the cinema, but the trailer looked like it had been beautifully filmed and on a massive scale so I decided to give it a chance. It is set in China in the Tang Dynasty and follows the Emperor, the Empress and their three sons (the eldest being from the Emperors first wife or first love). Their marriage is not a happy one and the Empress has a lover. The Emperor is slowly poisoning his wife and she swallows her "medicine" despite knowing what is really going on. There are lots of twists and turns and both of the Imperial couple have good cause to be mad at the other and plan their demise. Personally I was routing for the Empress...

Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li were cast in the starring roles and play their parts convincingly with supporting cast members also doing a great job. As the trailer promised the cinematography was stunning and despite my initial worries the plot was really engaging, apart being quite confusing in places trying to work out who was sleeping with who and who was related to who! I liked the symbolism behind the Imperial flag (the circle within the square) and was amazed at the oppulance of the Imperial Palace, so many crazy colours and embellishments.

I think I might have to watch House of Flying Daggers by the same director as I really enjoyed this film

***1/2 out of 5

Sunshine

Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting and 28 Days Later etc), this is a sci-fi thriller set in space. The premise is that the sun is dying and the earth is in a peptual winter (and never christmas! Ok so I added that part). Earths last hope is a second go at sending a space ship towards the sun to release a bomb that will give birth to a new star within the old sun. Eight scientists, astronauts and a psychologist are sent on the Icarus II to save the day.

The mission starts well. Everyone is (mostly) getting on and the oxygen garden is growing well with enough oxygen to get them there and a quarter of the way back before they are even half way there. Things take a turn for the worse when they are passing over Mercury where they pick up the distress signal of Icarus I which was lost 7 years previosuly. The decision to either carry on with their mission or stop off to see if there are any survivors turns deadly.

The actors are brilliant (especially the magnificent Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans) and I loved the special effects. It was very thrilling and it kept me on the edge of my seat. It's best to completely ignore the scienctific side of things as it is implausible at best. There was another impossible to believe part which I don't want to mention as it is a bit of a spolier for those who haven't seen it yet, but trust me it was daft.

Definately worth seeing in the cinema to appreciate the scale of it and the size of the sun and space.

**** out of 5 (just remember, science bad!)

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2007-04-22T13:53:23Z

This book tells the story of a family who founded a town called Mocando in South America. It spans over one hundred years with visits from gypsies with scientific inventions, alchemy, a plague of insomnia, civil war and rain that lasted over two years. When mysterious gypsy Melquiades (friend of Jose Arcadio) dies for the second timehe leaaves behind papers with the family that will take one hundred years to decipher by one of Jose Arcadio's descendents.

It took me such a long time to get into this book as I found it so dull. It's such a classic and so many people have recommended it to me that I felt guilty for not enjoying it more so I perservered... The last one hundred pages or so redeemed it slightly by grabbing my attention more. The other thing I found hard going was keeping track of who was who as the family shared a few key names (Aureliano, Jose, Arcadio, Amaranta and Remedios). Luckily at the front of the book was a family tree which helped me to keep up with which generation I was reading about by frequently checking back to it.

My favourite characters were Ursula Iguaran who was the matriach of the family married to the original Jose Arcadio and Pilar Ternera who was outside of the main family and the mother of two sons by different brothers in the family. Pilar Ternera was a prostitute and a madam who read playing cards and lived well over a hundred years. Ursula kept her family in check and despite turning blind she was the most insightful and knowledgable of the family.

Overall though I will have to give it **1/2 out of 5 sadly.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

2007-04-17T21:58:45Z

This is the first full length novel I have read by Neil Gaiman (I have read Smoke and Mirrors which is a collection of his short stories as well as The Sandman graphic novels) so I was intrigued to see if it would be any good or not! It follows Richard Mayhew who is your typical bloke having moved from Scotland to London. His life is forever changed after helping a young woman who is badly injured one night when going out to dinner with his fiance. He is dragged into London Below which is a whole other world underneath London as we know it, where the people who have slipped through the cracks live.

Below he meets Rat-speakers, murderers in the form of Mister Vandemar and Mister Croup, Old Bailey, the Marquis de Carabas, Hunter and the girl he saved Door who has the inherited ability to open any door she comes across. Door sets on a quest to avenge her family who have been killed by Vandemar and Croup on behalf of an unknown employee and Richard finds himself tagging along to see if he can uncover a way back to his life in London Above.

The prose wasn't the best I have to admit, howvere I loved the imagination and creativity behind the story. The fact that I live in the London and use the Underground most days made it seem more real to me. The use of the Underground names and the play on words Gaiman does was great (eg Seven Sisters are seven actual sisters, there are a bunch of Black Friars, Islington is an Angel and the Earl holds Court). It's funny that I didn't realise Terry Pratchett was doing a paraody of Vandemar and Croup in his book The Truth with Mr Pin and Mr Tulip in their manner of speaking, their characteristics and their love of fine artwork!

Very dark, I can also see where Holly Black took some inspiration for her novel Valient. I am looking forward to reading more of his novels.

**** out of 5

Night Watch - Terry Pratchett

2007-04-16T11:25:19Z

The twenty-seventh Discoworld novel takes place during the events of Thief of Time (the twenty-sixth in the series). Commander Vimes is transported back in time along with mass murderer Carcer during the storm where the lightening strikes the clockmakers shop and effectively stops time. The History Monks led by Lu-Tzu and Qu turn up to help Vimes get back to his own time where his son is being born.

Back in the past Vimes has to mentor his younger self and keep history from changing too much. Riots are breaking out as revolutionaries try to take down Lord Winder the current Patrician. For Vimes and the Night Watch to win the battle, he must sacrifice his future including his wife and child.

This was a really fun book and was interesting having it running in parallel to Thief of Time. Pratchett again steps away from his usual outlines and tries something a little different, whilst still retaining the security of much loved and well developed characters. During the book you get to see Cut-my-own-throat Dibbler get started selling his infamous pies, Nobby Nobbs joining the city Watch and Fred Colon get promoted to Sergant among other little tie-ins. The most interesting of these was seeing Vetinari as a younger man studying at the Assassin's Guild. Hopefully Pratchett will one day write a book with him as the main character.

***1/2 out of 5

Film Day once again

2007-04-15T20:20:35Z

Two more very different films...

Meet the Robinsons

The fab new Disney film that follows orphan inventor Lewis as he is rejected by yet another possible family. His obsession with inventing puts couples off adopting him, especially as all of his inventions fail. The last straw comes when he enters a science fair and his invention fails again. The difference with the incident at the science fair is that his invention was sabotaged by the bowler hat man and his hat which is an independent creature.

The story is fun with enough laughs to keep adults entertained as well as children. The twist at the end is fairly obvious to older viewers, but will keep the kids entertained. The part from the preview with the dinosaur who is unable to sieze Lewis but can't as he has "a big head and little arms" is just as funny even when you know it is coming! There is less focus on the songs and it follows a different pattern to traditional Disney. The music nonetheless is great though and was written by the talented Danny Elfman (how he finds the time to write scores for so many films and shows I will never know!). The ending is happy but not sickly sweet happy which fitted the rest of the story well.

If you have kids use them as an excuse. If like me you don't, go anyway and brave out the odd looks from cinema staff and parents!

***1/2 out of 5

Perfect Stranger

This film follows Rowena (Halle Berry) who writes for a newspaper using a male psuedonym as she uses various alias's to uncover corrupt businessmen and expose them in the paper with the help of Miles (Giovanni Ribisi who you might know as Phoebes half brother in Friends). An old friend Grace approaches her with a lead on advertising executive Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) who is well known for his extra-marital affairs. After Grace is found murdered, Rowena feels she has no choice but to investigate Hill.

Billed as a sexy thriller, I enjoyed this film a lot more than I was expecting! I went to see it as it fitted in with my timetable and even though I am not really big into thrillers I went along with an open mind. The plot twists and turns with three main suspects in Grace's death as well as a cameo appearence from Gary Dourdan who plays Warick in CSI Vegas. Ribisi is excellent in this role as best friend/genius/stalker and adds an extra dimension to the film. Berry and Willis are excellent as always and the film really builds the tension throughout. The only let down for me was the random addition of nudity that didn't seem neccessary and I couldn't take Berry seriously when she swore for some reason!

The end twist was a big shock to me which is unusual as I can usually figure them out. I look forward to watching more films by director James Foley.

**** out of 5

Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett

2007-04-13T18:35:27Z

A mix of old and new characters, the twenty-sixth novel in the Discworld series tells a tale of Time. The Auditors are back and inadvertantly trying to bring about the end of the world without breaking the rules they are so fond of. It is up to apprentice History Monk Lobsang and Susan (Death's grandaughter) to stop them. The question is can they make it in time?

Pratchett paradies martial arts and Forest Gump (with his chocolates and granny sayings) in this tale as well as looking at the idea of personifying concepts like Death, Time, War etc. The addition of a fifth Horseman of the Apocolypse Ronnie was a nice twist too.

Pratchett returns on fine form. I really enjoyed this novel which stood out a bit from some of his previous ones which have seemed a bit similar and sticking to a formula. When you read one of his more original tales it reminds you that he really can write! It will be interesting to see if the next one in the series is as good.

***1/2 out of 5