I missed last months so am happy to report that I did finish Left Hand of Darkness. I enjoyed the book at lot more once it became a survivalist adventure with Ai and Estraven. There was finally a gripping story arc that brought me more into the world and made me care a lot more about the characters. The book almost…

This Emma is kind of considered the worst Austen adaptation available. It isn't necessarily a terrible move, but it certainly isn't something that should be sought-after. Honestly any other Austen film would have been a better pick.

I think the Knightley/McFayden is a better "movie," as in it feels like a film and is simply beautiful to watch. The Ehle/Firth is a more faithful adaptation, and since I love the novel: Ehle/Firth wins. However when I need a quick Austen fix it is always a toss up between the Knightley/McFayden Pride and Prejudice…

This makes me so, so sad. Discworld is a great series and Pratchett was a great writer. I hope Death realizes what he took from us today, and I hope that Pratchett gets to be Death's next apprentice, no one else deserves it as much.

I think it might get a bad rap because of some of its gimmicky scenes, but holds up really well as a good move and a Hamlet adaptation, though I'd have to watch it again to see if I actually like Ethan Hawke in it. It does give me my favorite version of Hamlet's Father's Ghost (played by Sam Shephard). I love that…

Well Taymor's "Titus" was modernized to an extent since it included modern clothing, settings and props for certain characters while leaving other characters in a more traditional context. But it mixes genres/settings/time periods so gleefully that I don't know if you could consider it truly "modern". Also it is one…

Well Jimmy is always smackable, especially in the first book. I actually liked the stories that Toby told the Crakers, it was mostly her inner-dialog about Zeb that made me smacky.

My favorite parts in Hand are the interlude myth chapters, so I must agree. My main problem is I really don't like the character of the envoy, which might be part of the point, but it makes it hard to get invested.

Are you just starting to read Terry Pratchett!? You are in for a very good time. Reaper Man is when he just starts getting into peak form.

Scalzi is becoming one of my favorite brezzy sci-fi writers. Redshirts is a lot of fun as well (audio book read by Wil Wheton!)

I listened to the audio book and really enjoyed the Zeb sections, though a lot of that was because the reader was really great. Agreed about the Toby sections, they made her seem a lot more whiny and insecure than the character I remember from Year of the Flood; I kind of wanted to smack her.

I'm just finishing up Left Hand of Darkness, which is disappointing compared to The Dispossessed. I love Le Guin and am excited that other people seem to be finding her novels. I can't believe she isn't read more widely in college, I didn't start reading her until a few years ago.

Totally agree. I guess I expected it to be a more radical book than it actually is, since I'd heard it was this huge feminist novel. The Dispossessed still comes across as pretty revolutionary, so I guess that is a win for gender equality that Left Hand seems so non-shocking? If you are looking for awesome feminist Le…

Just about finished with Left Hand of Darkness. I like it, but it is probably my least favorite Le Guin so far. The Dispossessed is much more interesting, with a central character I like a lot more. So my least favorite is her most well-known (adult) book. I wonder how many other authors suffer the same fate? Their…

I am from Michigan and very curious what kind of food is considered "from Michigan" other than the two obvious ones, patsies and fudge (possibly also cherries).

The Last Unicorn was my sick day movie as a kid. Whenever I got sick this is the one that I asked for from the video store and I would watch it over and over again. So I guess the Unicorn part prevailed over the scary part for me. I'd say I'm rather proud of having such good taste at such a young age, but my other…

I read Invisible Man my senior year of high school; it was an incredibly eye-opening experience for me a white, female in a small mid-western town. That and Catch-22 (same year, same class), really shaped my political and my world views.

Knowing it is a topic that he comes back to often and expands on in the Baroque Cycle makes it more interesting to me. I do plan to get to those eventually. I just need a bit of a Stephenson break.

Also by Karen Armstrong, and especially good if you are interested in the intersection of Myth and Religion, is A Short History of Myth. It is, as advertised, pretty short and a great overview. If you've already delved into more in-depth explorations of myth/religion it might be a bit redundant, but I highly recommend…

Amazingly I finally finished Cryptonomicon, which took me forever. Overall, I liked the book, but find it strange that: (spoilers, I guess?)