Edward Wonzy is on the first vacation he’s taken since he could remember. Normally a high profile stock broker, Edward is taking two weeks off to get his affairs in order before he leaves for a similar job in London. His firm asks him to drop by on a client to do a favor, however.

It turns out the favor has been requested by the Duke and Duchess of Bowmry, England. They want him to catalog their huge collection of books and keep an eye out for one book in particular. Edward was sure this was some sort of mistake as the task is beneath him. He thinks about excusing his way out of it, but as each day passes, he takes comfort in the chore.

He tries to find out more about this book, this codex he is looking for. In his research he comes across Margaret Napier who just so happens to be an expert on the author: Gervase of Langford. Margaret is unemotional and from what I can tell, barely human. She’s robotic in almost every way. She is convinced the codex is a fake.

Meanwhile, Edward gets sucked into a computer game called MOMUS which has striking similarities to his quest for the codex.

The first half of this book had me turning pages. It was easy to read and interesting enough, but I suppose I was so eager to get to the next page because I was waiting for something to HAPPEN. Anything at all. No one actually does anything noteworthy in this book at all. In fact, no one would even break a sweat if it weren’t for the fact that it was the middle of summer.

Most of the book is spent in libraries or in front of a computer screen, describing a game. None of the characters are particularly interesting. The ending came out of left field and had a dreamlike quality to it.

I didn’t hate the book, but I felt the storyline and characters were beyond weak.

If it were not for the few mentions of satellite dishes and cars, this book could have easily taken place two hundred years ago in a small Paris town. The backbone and detail of this story is wonderful.

Vianne has been running all her life. It was how she was brought up and how she’s been bringing up her daughter. She has a secret desire to stop running and settle down in one place. She has a passion for cooking and specifically chocolate making, so it seems only fitting that she setup a chocolate shop. Many of the local townspeople and especially the local priest find this to be an act of defiance as the shop opens as Lent begins.

Through much of the book Vianne struggles with her own demons. Memories left by her mother still haunt her. It doesn’t help matters that the priest despises her.

The story started out strong, but lost something along the way. The most climactic moments of the book happen halfway through and then the story just fizzles out, tying up loose ends. I was very unhappy with the ending, although all-in-all, it was a good book.

This book was about a girl’s life from ages 10-18. I can’t say it isn’t an interesting concept and the book itself was fairly interesting, however I wasn’t at all satisfied with it. Nothing ever really happens to the girl, just to people around her. A story isn’t very interesting when the main character never actually does anything or grows emotionally in any way.

This was the first book I’ve ever read where I got to the final page and turned it, fully expecting at least one more chapter. It was a non-ending.

I wish I could wrap my head around why this one is so popular, but to be frank, I just can’t get it.

Carrie Pilby is a nineteen year old after my own heart. She has a hard time making friends because she views herself as better than everyone else. She thinks everyone else is hypocritical and immoral. She doesn’t seem to recognize her own hypocrisy and immorality which are prevalent throughout the book.

This is such a fun, light book and I was disappointed when it ended. I’d love to see more books about Carrie. This would be one of the few fictional series I wouldn’t mind following.

This was a light and fluffy read with lots of nostalgia. Everyone can remember their favorite childhood candy and the author just about covers them all.

Aside from the novelty of a biography centered around candy, I can’t say this was a particularly interesting read. The author’s life was dull and although she writes well, there’s not much that can make up for a boring story.

Reading this book gave me a stomachache. Unless you have a serious (and I do mean serious) love of candy, I wouldn’t recommend it.

This book is a true autobiography of Laurie Notaro. Actually, to call it an autobiography would be unfair. It’s more like a series of based-on-real-life-events stories.

Laurie is an odd woman, one I can identify with. She is funny and smart in her recollections of family and household antics.

I found the book similar to Candy and Me due to the efforts the author takes to distance herself from her readers and the one-story-at-a-time approach to writing. During the entire book, I’m not sure we ever learn Laurie’s husband’s name. That fact alone disturbed me. Why is it omitted?

There’s no plot going on with the book at all. Each chapter can be read independently of each other. Again, while that’s not a bad thing, it just made the book a choppy read for me.

For some reason I was under the impression that this book would be an actual tale of a fat bride. Maybe the struggles a fat bride has to go through to get her wedding pulled off. In fact, it’s the story of a slightly overweight woman. Maybe two or three chapters are spent discussing the wedding. Guess I should have read the cover better.

I really enjoy Dan Brown’s books. This is the third one I’ve read so far. Angels and Demons is a lot like The DaVinci Code. The main character in both books, Robert Langdon is introduced here and I think Brown spends a lot more time letting the reader get to know Robert Langdon. All I could really tell from him in The DaVinci Code was that he was a Harvard professor. In Angels and Demons, Brown spends more time developing all his characters and providing details about their background which help you understand their current actions.

I found much of the book very predictable. Brown gave away too many clues that allowed you to guess what was going on before it was revealed. The last 100 pages are so are filled with plot twists and turns and while it’s fun, it leaves the mind reeling a bit.

What I especially love about all the Dan Brown books I’ve read so far is that they are written in real time and do not contain a lot of fluff. I can’t wait to get into the last book of his I haven’t read, Deception Point.

One of my all time favorite movies.

A funny and smart ensemble piece about a writer of love stories and his struggles with true love. It’s mostly subtitled in French and Russian, however some parts are in English. Highly recommended romantic comedy.

After failing to make it on his own in New York City, Jim (Casey Affleck) moves home to Indiana to live with his parents at age 27. His divorced 32 year old brother also lives there and he’s even less ambitious than Jim.

Jim meets a local woman, Anika (Liv Tyler) at a bar one night. Jim and Anika start spending a lot of time together along with her 9 year old son. Jim seems to find escape from his dysfunctional family when with them.

The story was good and there were plenty of funny moments, however the real interest for me in this movie were the continued odd references and happenings. Throughout, Jim mentions his dehydration and need for water. He’s thirsty for life. As far as I remember, the only music in this movie is what the characters have playing on the radio. Jim spends a lot of time in his van, so there’s plenty of music.

This was a pretty good movie; and although it’s not going on my list of all time favorites, it’s definitely worth seeing.