The Pulitzer & an Academy Award...

I picked up "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham outside my bank. There are always a few tables set up with used books, and I love to peruse the $1 paperback section. Even if a book is horrible, it was a dollar, you know!? I picked up "The Hours" remembering when Nicole Kidman won the Oscar for her performance in the film and thought I would read it, then maybe rent the movie.
After finishing the last Potter book, I embarked on a completely different journey. The story of three women-- how their lives connect, how they impact each other's lives without ever even meeting. The story is centered around Virginia Woolf's book, "Mrs. Dalloway;" Mrs. Woolf herself being a central character- one of the three women. It was beautifully constructed- incredibly tied together, reiterating that it doesn't matter the time period, the social constructs, the style or monetary accomplishments-- we're still just people; people dealing with the same thoughts, the same fears, the same questions.
I immediately went out and rented the film. Amazing. One of the most incredible casts including Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris... the list goes on and on of truly phenomenal actors that brought this Pulitzer Prize winning story to life. I recommend you read the book and see the movie-- though, I would say read first.
There is nothing more wonderful than finding a cheap book one day strolling through the city running errands and you find a gem; a story that changes your life forever.

Next by Michael Crichton

Welcome to our genetic world. This is not the world of the future-it's the world right now.
Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes. . . .

The premise of this book is SCARY!! How much is true and how much is fiction? What does happen to all the residual "stuff" from a hospital visit...blood, etc. I remember before my heart surgery in 2005 when I knew the surgeon was going to remove the "left atrial appendage" during surgery, if he could keep it for me...I wanted to see what a piece of my heart muscle looked like. (Didn't get it.) I know there are a lot of genetic tests available, such as the blood test I had a couple of months ago for the Jak 2 gene because of my high red cell count. Or for breast cancer. And what if your insurance company finds out what you could be medically predisosed for...does that mean its a pre-existing condition and they won't cover it? ANYWAY, there is a lot of technical language in this book and to many characters with their plots going on which all come together rather unbelievably for me at the end. Hmmm. There seems to be a pattern here...I was going on about all the architectural detail in The Pillars of the Earth. Can't people just write books with one interesting plot and use lots of adjectives and not write a boring technical manual...unless of course it involves numbers or maps, which I like.

I Love Harry Potter

Ok, Obviously I can't say or give anything away. I finished it at 3 am this morning. A day and a half of hard reading, but I've read almost all of the books that way. Marathon!

I will say, that the story makes complete and utter sense...Ms. Rowling is happy with it and so am I.

Mother, when you finally catch up and have read the end then please post a discussion so we can actually talk about it. (She's so far behind! Only on book 5!!)

Happy reading! :)

New Title Alert!

This just in from B&N....a NEW Gregory Maguire book is coming out September 11, 2007.

Title: What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy.

OMG it's going to be agony waiting for this to hit paperback...

A good dose of medicine...

First in a new series set in Roman-occupied Britain, military medicus (army doctor) Gaius Petreius Ruso, newly divorced and stuck with debts of his late father, transfers to the 20th Legion where he finds filthy, vermin-filled quarters, miserable weather, and a lack of supplies. Immediately, he is called upon to examine the corpse of a young woman who drowned, tend to the sick, and eventually rescues an injured slave girl. Gaius also becomes a sort of detective when two young females from the local brothel turn up dead. In the meantime, he is writing a first-aid guide, sharing residence with another doctor, and more mice than can possibly be counted. Filled with period detail, suspense, and humor.