Book Review: The Kite Runner

Last night I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It's well written and the story is good. This is his first novel but it reads like a book by veteran writer. However, it is a very grim story. Horrible things happen to the characters. I almost quit reading after the first 100 pages. I usually don't read books like this, but a friend loaned it to me and highly suggested I read it.

Again, it's good, but read this at your own risk. If you can stomach the first 100 pages stay with the whole book. But be warned that the atrocities aren't over until the book is over.

Overall, I would recommend this for the writing, but I hesitate to tell you to put it on your must-read list based on its content.

I think my next book is going to be The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. It should be a little more fun than this last one. I'll let you know!

Poll Results

The results are in and, while he will redeem himself in the last book (2 votes) and is lucky to be portrayed by Alan Rickman (2 votes), it looks like Snape is in bad need of a shampoo (3 votes). I quite agree!

And, by the way, so does Fred Weasley. On page 444 of Deathly Hallows he says that one of the characters "...can move faster than Severus Snape when confronted with shampoo...." [snicker, snicker]

A new poll will be on its way shortly. I know you can't wait!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It's been a wonderful 10 years following Harry through his adventures, and now it's over. Be prepared to laugh and cry, and especially brace yourself for some shocking deaths.

I was the first one out of the store at midnight. I raced home as quickly as I dared and began reading immediately. 3 extra large Starbuck's coffees helped me stay awake most of the night. I took a 2 1/2 hour nap from 4:30 to 7, and finished at 1:45 this afternoon. Then I took a shower and a long nap!

My dad is reading it now. I won't comment on anything except what has happened in the first 100 or so pages that he's read. I'm anxious to discuss this, so when you've finished give me a call.

Until then, cheers to Harry, the boy who lived.

Harry Potter Spoilers - Boo! Hiss!

As I'm sure you've heard, read and seen by now, there are spoilers all over the place for the last Harry Potter book. In my attempt to avoid them all, I'm dropping out for a couple days. I'm leaving work early today, and when I get home I won't be turning on a TV, radio or computer until I finish the book.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Good luck getting your books and enjoy the reading. Please contact me as soon as you've finished so we can discuss (you know I'll have finished it before you).

Oddment! Nitwit! Blubber! Tweak!

The Police Concert

O My God! Incredible. Imagine all the songs you know and love, only BETTER! They've all been musically active this whole time and you can tell that they all brought so much more to their music than they were able to back in the early 80s. The best part was that they all seemed to be having fun! Andy Summers got many well deserved guitar solos - well deserved because he was only allowed 1 out of all songs they made ("Driven to Tears" on Zenyatta Mondatta in case you want to check it out).

Stewart Copeland is amazing! I found myself watching him about half the time. He has so much energy and a kick-ass drum and percussion set! I never listen to "The Bed's Too Big Without You" but if the album version sounded like the live version it would be in high rotation, and this is due to Stewart's drumming kicking the song up a notch. He got to show off his percussion prowess during "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and " Walking In Your Footsteps" which were really cool. You can tell he's very intense about his music.

And, of course, Sting is awesome. What else is there to say about him. :)

Here is the set list:

Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
Bed's Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne King Of Pain
So Lonely Every Breath You Take
Next To You

Also, somewhere in there we got a little Regatta de Blanc. E-yo, e-yo, e-yo-yo. I hope they release a live recording of this tour. I'd be shocked if they didn't. I know Sting never misses an opportunity to cash in on whatever he can, and this seems to be a prime cashing in opportunity. And I'm buying!

Book Reviews: Hannibal Rising & Blaze

I just finished reading Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris. This book got beat up pretty bad by the critics, but I enjoyed reading it. It's the beginning of Hannibal Lecter's life and takes us through his tortured childhood and how he turned into the monster we know him as today. It's no Silence of the Lambs, but it's not as far out as Hannibal (in case you didn't enjoy the last book). It's in paperback, so if you're looking for something to read and you can't get enough of your favorite bad guy, you might want to check it out with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

The book I read before that was Blaze by "Richard Bachman" who is actually Stephen King. Two big thumbs up on this one. I'm always amazed at how easy his books are to read and how hard they are to put down. He originally wrote it back in the 70s and dusted it off a bit for publishing. You need to put this on your list of books to read.

My next book post will obviously be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You probably already know I'm going to love it, but I'll give it the special review it deserves.

That's all for now. Keep reading!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

So how much did you love the movie?! It's incredible how good the movies are considering how much book content they leave out. Luna Lovegood is possibly my most favorite character in the series, and Ivana Lynch got her spot on! Of course, all the other actors were marvelous as well. If you haven't seen it yet, rush to the theater and see it today! Better yet, go see it in IMAX and you get the last 20 minutes in 3D (which is really cool).

I went to see the IMAX version this weekend at The Henry Ford and they had 3 live owls to see while we were waiting in line. What incredible animals! They are beyond beautiful. It was so cool to see them up close. Did you know that owls can close one eye and sleep half their brain while the other half remains alert? Did you know they only eat meat? Did you know I want a pet owl now?

I'm probably not going to get one, but these owls were from the Leslie Science Center in Ann Arbor. I will definitely check it out in the near future. I think it's mostly for kids, but hey, I'm someone's kid! I think they said it's free.

Anyway, go see the movie. And rictusempra!

Best Month Ever!

July 2007 is the best month ever! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie, followed by The Police concert, followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book, mixed in with good friends to share it all with!

All of that preceeded by a fun trip to Vegas to visit my brother and celebrate Boris's birthday. I don't know what I'm going to do in August to top all of this. It might be kind of a let down.

I hope you all have as great a summer as I'm having. Enjoy!