5 Book Challenge: Nobody’s Baby But Mine

  Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

  A 34 year old research physicist named Jane pretends to be a prostitute to become impregnated by an aging  quarterback Cal whom she believes to be stupid.

  I didn’t like the first half of this book.

It’s not that people always behave rationally or in character but still-! To me, it seems unlikely that such an introverted woman would put a bow around her neck and go to a stranger’s door. No matter how badly she wanted a baby.

The characters keep insisting that they know Jane is not a prostitute. Since she offers a temporary sexual liaison -which she does not enjoy- to a stranger in exchange for something of value (her conception), it was really hard for me to tell the difference.

SPOILERS

Wired’s history of manga in America

This is an enjoyable if light introduction to manga’s invasion of the USA. The artwork is particularly nice and what I read seems accurate enough. I’ve been reading a lot of fan history on the topic lately.

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1990s movies – top 25

This list is taken from Digital Dream Door’s list of 100 best movies from the 1990s. These are only the first 25.

Here are my other top 25 lists:

Silent :: 1930s :: 1940s :: 1950s :: 1960s :: 1970s :: 1980s :: 1990s :: 2000s

Underlined means I’ve seen it. Blue text means I haven’t. A ♣ means I want to see it.

1. Schindler’s List – (1993, Steven Spielberg)
2. GoodFellas – (1990, Martin Scorsese)
3. Saving Private Ryan – (1998, Steven Spielberg)
4. Pulp Fiction- (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
5. The Silence of the Lambs – (1991, Jonathan Demme)
6. Fargo – (1996. Joel Coen)
7. Unforgiven – (1992, Clint Eastwood)
8. Shawshank Redemption – (1994, Frank Darabont)
9. Malcolm X – (1992, Spike Lee)♣
10. American Beauty – (1999, Sam Mendes)
11. Dances With Wolves – (1990, Kevin Costner)
12. Forrest Gump – (1994, Robert Zemmeckis)
13. Sling Blade – (1996, Billy Bob Thornton)
14. Titanic – (1997, James Cameron)
15. Braveheart – (1995, Mel Gibson)
16. The Usual Suspects – (1995, Brian Singer)♣
17. The Sixth Sense – (1999, M. Night Shyamalan)
18. Reservoir Dogs – (1992, Quentin Tarantino)
19. Barton Fink – (1991, Joel Coen)
20. Boyz ‘N The Hood – (1991, John Singleton)
21. JFK - (1991, Oliver Stone)
22. Se7en – (1995, David Fincher)
23. Dead Man Walking – (1995, Tim Robbins)
24. Toy Story – (1995, John Lasseter)
25. The Piano – (1993, Jane Campion)

More on Alice (American McGee’s Alice)

I just read this bit on the progress of the Alice movie. It’s rather daunting to see yet another setback for it. I think Gellar would make an excellent Queen of Hearts if it comes to that.

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5 Book Challenge: Jewels of the Sun

Cover via Amazon

Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts

What could be more perfect than inheriting a cottage in Ireland? Well, it’s considerably less perfect when it involves the matchmaking prince of the fairies.

Jude, miserable because of her recent divorce and professional burnout, quits her job as a university professor. Things would be really bleak except that she inherits a cottage in a remote village in Ireland. She goes there to regroup, and maybe, come alive again.

There she meets a whole passel of charming, eccentric villagers who generally converge on the local pub. Three siblings are the lively owners of the pub: Brenna, Shawn and their extra handsome sibling Aidan.

Not only is there a bit of Enchanted April for Jude but a genuine fairy tale is mixed into the story. Once upon a time, a fairy prince wooed but did not win his human lady. The ghost of his lost lady is reputed to haunt Jude’s cottage. On occasion a strange man appears and cryptically urges her to look on Aidan kindly.

5 Book Challenge: The Book of Skulls

What wouldn’t you do to live forever?

The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg, was originally published in 1972. Silverberg is known as a science fiction writer but I’ve never read a novel of his and I was having a lot of trouble finding a horror novel to finish this section of my 5 book challenge.

The premise is four male college students find an ancient text that tells them if they present themselves to a priesthood in Nevada and 2 of them die, the other two will have eternal life.

On their spring break, they decide to investigate….

12 Movie Releases I Await

2008 release dates

Twilight (2008) I wonder if they’ll be able to recreating the swooning atmosphere of Stephenie Meyer’s romantic vampire love story.  seen

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) I’m a sucker for Elizabethan movies and it at least it should look pretty.

Bond 22 (2008) Daniel’s back

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo (2008) I’m glad they made a sequel.

Igor (2008) An evil scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant (Igor) has big dreams of becoming a scientist himself and winning the annual Evil Science Fair. Sounds like fun.

2009 release dates

Wolverine (2009) I like both Hugh Jackman and Wolverine both. It will take a lot to disappoint me.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2009) Destined to be bad but I plan to watch it.

Rapunzel Unbraided (2009) Disney animation – one of my favorite fairy tales

Battle Angel (2009) live action SF based on a great dystopian anime – I will watch this no matter how bad it is.

Killing on Carnival Row (2009) The description I read was convoluted but I think this is right: serial killer preys on fairies who live alongside humans in Victorian England.

2010 release dates

The Hobbit (2010) oh, yeah!

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) My favorite Narnia book

Mystery Movies: Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is spunky, vulnerable, witty and cynical all at once.

The convoluted tale of the murder of Lily Kane, Veronica’s best friend, serves as the background for the series. Lily’s death more or less destroyed the already corrupt town of Neptune. The sheriff (Veronica’s father) accused Lilly’s father of murder. When another man confessed to the murder, Veronica’s world fell apart.

Now her wealthy peers ostracize her, and her father works as a private investigator. Veronica believes that if she discovers who really killed Lily then, perhaps, she might find her happiness again.

Her circle includes a put-upon sidekick Wallace (Percy Daggs III), a stoic ex-boyfriend she smolders for and a friendly ruffian named Weevil (Francis Capra) whom she should smolder for. There is also Logan (Jason Dohring), the manipulative, snotty kid who misbehaves every chance he gets.

Despite the bright manner of the actress and the quick-moving stories, it took me a while to realize how well written this series is. But I now love this series and I have 2 disks left to go of the first season.

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This is the last of the mystery movies. It was a rewarding experiment and I thoroughly recommend the idea (if not all the movies!). I’m going to be working on a biographical movie list next.

Mystery Movie: Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)

 Smilla is both brilliant and anti-social to an extreme degree.  When a young boy she has reluctantly befriended dies in accident, she cannot accept the official cause of death.  Her intuition, especially in matters of snow, tells her a different story.

Her investigations drag issues into the open that nobody wants to deal with.  She even resurrects events from her own past that she had long dismissed.  Nevertheless, she has opened Pandora’s box and must deal with the consequences.

At one point, Smilla discusses what meaning and connection she finds between mathematics and snow.  This was the most engaging part of the movie for me, and I wish there had been more of it.  I also enjoyed the trek through the snow and wish there had been more of that.

For the rest of the movie, I struggled unsuccessfully to become engaged with the characters or to suspend my disbelief at the story line.

I think the movie would have been improved by fewer action sequences and less mystery. Neither were necessary in exploring Smilla’s character and heritage.

Perhaps the book by Peter Høeg on which this movie is based is more satisfying.

An Ideal Wife

An Ideal Wife by Betty Neels

A tall curvy nurse Louisa has a dull, persistent suitor Percy (hee) who assumes that she’ll marry him despite her refusals. A doctor Thomas new to her hospital irritates her no end but she is strangely attracted to him. However, he is engaged to selfish woman Helena who can’t understand why he’s always working. Our heroine concocts a plan to introduce these two losers to each other and then the doctor would be free.

Very cute and harmless. I especially liked the strawberry picking scene.