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This is the first 3-D IMAX movie I have seen and, boy, does it set the bar high for any other movie. Jake Scully (Sam Worthington takes) his recently deceased brother's place to go to a planet called Pandora. His brother was part of a mission where his thoughts could transfer to a genetically engineered native body so he could learn to speak to the native species and learn about them. There, of course, is an ulterior motive for this expensive effort. A very rare and precious material called Unobtainium has been discovered underneath the huge tree which was the Home Tree of a tribe of the natives.

Of course, Jake meets and becomes attached to the tribe's chief's daughter, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). He learns that the natives are not only spiritually, but also physically attached to the trees and other lifeforms on the island and he had to convince the evil corporation to stop the destruction of the land.

This story has been told many times and is a great vehicle for the amazing art in this movie. You would be soon tired of all the superlatives I could use so I will only say to go and see it. Now. Yes, now. Well, what are you waiting for?

My rating for this movie: +++++

My Sister, My Love (2008)

I only read reviews about this book by Joyce Carol Oates after I had read it and then found out it was meant to be a satire about middle class America. Not being a good literature student I missed all of the clues. One of which was the names of the characters and their neighbors which were all mean and violent (Rampike, O'Styker). Another was the over-the-top psychiatric diagnoses of the children and the unbelievable number of drugs prescribed.

"Bix! Darling! God help us - Bliss is missing."

Loosely based on the murder of child beauty pageant princess, JonBenet Ramsey, six-year-old Bliss was found murdered in the basement of her family's house. Even though a neighboring sex offender admitted to the murder and subsequently hung himself in his jail cell, suspicion never completely came off of her nine-year-old brother, Skyler, who writes this memoir in the hopes that a memory would return to tell him who the real murderer was.

Skyler went from psychiatric facility to one boarding school to another, anywhere but home with his parents fueling the guilt that he must have somehow been responsible for Bliss' death. At the age of nineteen Skyler writes this book and shares with us every agonizing memory of his youth.

"...an adolescent Skyler the reader would be startled to behold: not a runt any longer, nor was Skyler's soul a runt-soul, for Skyler had learned at last the advantages of being a professionally afflicted kid of affluent background; amid the walking wounded of the Academy at Basking Ridge..."

It was very hard for me to finish this book. If I had know or realized it was a satire, it might have been less painful but I was determined to stick with this story to the end to see if there was any hope of Skyler finding any normalcy for himself. I'll let you read the book to learn if he was successful.

I think the only readers who would appreciate this book are Oates fans.

My rating for this book: +++

A Christmas Carol (1843)

Charles Dickens' classic story about Ebenezer Scrooge has always been a favorite of mine in movie form but until now I had never read it. DailyLit offered it in installments through email so I could not resist reading it. What a treat!
I doubt there is anyone who is not familiar with the story of the stingy man who was visited by ghosts and shown how Christmas was more than just an excuse for people to pick his pocket but to share what he had and enjoy the feeling of making others' lives better. What I missed by not reading the book was the amazing language used. The first phrase that stopped me was:

Marley’s face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.

Not having studied literature to any length, I don't know if this phrase is common to the era or the creativity of the author, but I loved it. Many of the words I was familiar with since they were used in my favorite version of the movie with Alistair Sim, like the following:

He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.

While it was fun to get the story in installments, I recommend that the reader gain access to a book with the original illustrations or access them through The Gutenberg Project: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm.

I recommend this book to anyone who has never read it or hasn't read it in a while.

My rating for this book: +++++

Hush (2007)

Donna Jo Napoli writes stories based on fairy tales and this book is based on a story from an Icelandic saga about a girl named Melkorka who was bought by an Icelandic man named Hoskuld and takes her back to his home. In our book, Melkorka is an Irish princess who was kidnapped when trying to escape her town before the Vikings invaded. She is advised by another slave to pretend to be mute so that her pride and arrogance wouldn't end up getting her beaten or worse.

In the night someone rolls agains me as we lie sleeping. I open my eyes to see Maeve's eyes shining at me in the moonlight. "He's convinced you are an aist - a stork," she whispers. "A stork who has the power to chage form into a woman. He thinks you may be a charodeitsa - an enchantress, but unlike our Irish piseogai, he fears you could be evil. It's only how clean and pretty you are that keeps him from quaking."

Melkorka was sold by the Russian kidnappers to an Icelandic sailor named Hoskuld. She continues to learn about these hard, rough, people from the north and about herself in the process. Her intelligence serves her well by quickly picking up languages and knowledge about healing from another slave.

Life in these northern places was cold, dark, and cruel. By following Melkorka on her voyage we learn about these early civilizations. She was a remarkable girl who wisely used her wits to stay alive. I recommend this book to historical fiction fans.

My rating for this book: ++++

The Lost Symbol (2009)

The reviews for this latest Robert Langdon adventure said it was rushed to publication. This might be the reason I felt rushed through this book (up to the last three chapters which felt interminable). This time the ancient mysterious group known as the Masons have hidden information in a monument in Washington, D.C. and Langdon is called in when his friend, Peter Solomon, is kidnapped and his hand is found in the Capitol building.

There is a definite rhythm to this book: conversation, lecture, action, conversation, lecture, action, ... The chapters are very short as the action bounces like a superball between Langdon and a strange man covered in tattoos, the CIA director, the FBI, and Peter's sister, Katherine.

In Brown's previous books, The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, we are taken into places most people never see in Paris and the Vatican respectively. This time we go through Washington, D.C. from deep basements to the top of the Washington Monument but instead of feeling like I am enjoying a private tour, I somehow feel excluded from being able to visit the same places as the characters and it's not a good feeling.

My advise to fans of action books is to try and buy this at a used book store so you won't feel ripped off and abused.

My rating for this book: ++

A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995)

Laurie R. King's series of detective stories feature a young woman, Mary Russell who develops a deep relationship with Sherlock Holmes. She is very bright and uses her tomboyish looks to dress as a man and get into places women cannot.

In this story, she is intrigued by a group of women who meet for spiritual and inspirational meetings. Danger lurks, however, and several members of the church mysteriously meet fatal ends after changing their wills, leaving everything to this church.

Holmes helps her discover the truth and their relationship reaches a new height.

These books are fun diversion and I will continue to slowly make my way through them as I find old copies in used book stores.

I recommend this book to mystery lovers who have a special attraction to Sherlock Holmes stories.

My rating for this book: +++

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (2009)

It may surprise many people (including history-impaired ones like me) that Rosa Parks was not the first woman to refuse giving up her seat on a bus in racially segregated Montgomery, Alabama. Phillip Hoose has earned the 2010 National Book Award for this book which chronicles the life of a teenaged girl (much in her own words) who felt embarassed and outraged at the treatment black people received from whites as well as other blacks.

All of a sudden it seemed such a waste of time to heat up a comb and straighten your hair before you went to school. So I just quit doing it. I felt very emotional about segregation, about the way we were treated, and about the way we treated each other. I told everybody, "I won't straighten my hair until they straighten out this mess."

It was the law in Montgomery that black people had to give not just their seat, but a whole row occupied by black people, to a white person.

Rebellion was on my mind that day. All during February we'd been talking about people who had taken stands. We had been studying the Constitution in Miss Nesbitt's class. I knew I had rights. I had paid my fare the same as white passengers. I knew the rule - that you didn't have to get up for a white person if there were no empty seats left on the bus - and there weren't. But it wasn't about that. I was thinking, Why should I have to get up just because a driver tells me to, or just because I'm black? Right then, I decided I wasn't gonna take it anymore. I hadn't planned it out but my decision was built on a lifetime of nasty experiences.

The rest of Claudette's story, along with pictures and sidebars telling about others involved in the struggle, give a vivid picture of what it was like at that time and how segregation was overturned. The strength and solidarity of the black community during the bus boycotts was amazing. Of particular interest is how Claudette felt her credibility was hurt by her pregnancy.

I highly recommend this book to history buffs and wannabe rebels.

My rating for this book: +++++

Manga Claus: The Blade of Kringle (2006)

A student returned this graphic novel and I just had to read it. Nathaniel Marunas has written a humorous combination of traditional and martial arts themes. The artwork by Erik Craddock matches perfectly with the story of how a disgruntled elf magically turns an innocent nutcracker into a terrorizing ninja on Christmas Eve with the idea that he could reverse the spell and be a hero. As we all know, this kind of plan never works.

[Elf] I just wanted the nutcracker to mess things up a little so I could come to the rescue, but there are so many of these ninjas and they're out of control and-
[Santa] Enough! Go to my office as fast as you can, fetch my katana and wakizashi from behind my desk, and meet me at the power plant.

Things get out of hand, the elf has to admit what he did, and Santa is turns into an avenging, muscle-bound swordsman.

Not your typical Christmas story but it made me smile. Santa makes the elf a special effects coordinator and what he does to the reindeer is totally outrageous.

My rating for this book: +++

Glass (2007)

This book is a sequel to Crank, the story of a meth addict loosely based on the life of Ellen Hopkins' daughter. Methamphetamine in a very pure form is called glass, ice, crystal, or "the monster" by Katrina, an 18-year old girl who has already danced with the devil, kicked the habit, and had a baby conceived during a rape. We join her in this book living with her mother, stepfather, and brother, taking care of her son and trying to get her life back on track. Unfortunately, the drug calls to her again.

I have my out.
I have my high.
I have more stash
waiting.
I have a job.
Almost have an income.
It is almost time
for an outstanding
eighteenth birthday.
I have earned my wings,
can't wait for my
test flight to freedom.
My head buzzes,
my body rushes,
electric, anxious.
I want a taste
of flight, a taste
of adulthood, another
small taste of ice
before afternoon dwindles.
The last thing on my
mind is Hunter, waiting
for his mommy.

Every promise she makes herself, she breaks. Every stopping point, she passes. We watch her inevitable downward spiral and we are appalled at how seductive this drug is. It gives the user such a rush of feelings in the beginning but the rush fades and it becomes harder to exist without using until it is impossible to quit. She is kicked out of her house and moves in with her dealer who needs a nanny for his two children. How convenient.

Have you Ever Tried

To quit
a bad habit, one
that has come to
define you?
To cease
using a substance-
any substance-
that you not only
need but enjoy?
To stop
yourself from
lighting up that
cigarette? It's going
to kill you, but hey,
you're going
to die
someday anyway,
why not die happy,
why not die buzzed,
why not die
satisfied? Why not
die sooner, with
fewer regrets, than
later?

Will she ever get over the drugs and enjoy a normal life? To recommend this book, please allow me to use free verse.

Read
this
book.
Now.

My rating for this book: ++++

Impossible (2009)

It has been a long time since I have actually finished a book. I feel like I have neglected my duties. But I have just come to the end of this latest book by Nancy Werlin which is woven around the ballad known to many as Scarborough Fair.

Lucinda's mother is a crazy street person named Miranda and seems to pop up in Lucy's life at random, inconvenient times. The latest is when Luncinda is ready to go to her prom and is walking out to her date's car. Astonishingly Miranda starts to lob empty glass bottles from her cart at the group of people seeing Lucy off. Her date takes off and the cops arrive to haul Miranda away. Luckily for Lucy, her foster parents, Soledad and Leo are there to help and support Lucy as they tried with Miranda.

Days later, Lucy's friend, Zach, found a journal written by Miranda in the abandoned cart. By reading her mother's journal, Lucy learns about the curse following all her ancestresses. The way to counter the curse is to complete three challenges woven into the song.

Tell her to make me a magical shirt, Parsley sage, rosemary and thyme, Without any seam or needlework, Else she'll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to find me an acre of land,... Between the salt water and the sea strand...

Tell her to plow it with just a goat's horn,... and sow it all over with one grain of corn, Else she'll be a true love of mine, And her daughters forever pssessions of mine.

Will Lucy, Zach, and her fosterparents be able to solve the riddles in time? Fantasy readers will love the battle with the Elfin Knight who has managed to ruin the lives of so many women.

My rating for this book: +++