Mamma Mia! (2008)

★★½

Total chick flick, complete with women who squeal hello and sing into hairbrushes. Having Greece as a backdrop made the movie beautiful to watch, but since the storyline and singing were corny, maybe it's best seen on stage. Also, I had to get over the fact that the bride-to-be, who was supposed to be 20, looked more like 14.

The Kite Runner (2007)

★★★★

I really liked the book, and since the movie was closely aligned to the book, I guess that made me partial to liking the movie. My favorite parts of the movie were when the dialogue was taken directly from the book. In fact, some disappointing moments were when I expected to hear a good line from the book in a particular scene, but it wasn't included. Many details, big and small, were left out, changed, or added, probably for the sake of the movie's flow, but I can't imagine why other details that made a strong impression on me in the book were omitted (e.g., Baba was not as "larger than life" as he was in the book). I suppose my rating is less of a judgment based on the movie's own merits, and more of one based on how the movie compares to the book. Oh, I did think the movie felt a lot longer than it really was.

T. W. Food - Cambridge, MA

★★★½

I think my rating is artificially low because I didn't order well. My squash soup was good, but nothing special, while my friend Sarah's charcuterie was excellent. My gnocchi with capers and cauliflower was flavorful, but not as flavorful as Sarah's cod. Also, the gnocci was a bit too "browned" for my taste. The wait staff forgot about us between clearing our dinner plates and giving us the dessert menu, but I actually don't hold this against them because Sarah and I had plenty to talk about and weren't in any rush, plus the server apologized once she realized what had happened. The hostess was actually very helpful even before I entered the restaurant, telling me on the telephone, as I looked for parking, that I could park anywhere that required a permit, and if I got a ticket, they would pay for it. Finally, I don't know if it's my own personal poor eyesight, but I felt the restaurant was very dark - I actually had a difficult time reading my credit card receipt.

Public Enemies (2009)

★★½

It was okay. Kind of slow. Visually dark; maybe it's my poor eye sight, but I sometimes couldn't even tell what was going on. Lots of characters with bit parts, sometimes confusing. I love Johnny Depp, but I just couldn't get into it.

The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease

★★½

To be fair, I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. The back cover has glowing praise from authors I don't know. (I assume they write novels in the same genre.) It's historical fiction, which I have nothing against, but I'm just usually not interested in such books (or movies). If I'm going to read about history, I prefer non-fiction.

At the end of the book, there's a two-page Author's Note that explains the historical context of the book, including the fact that some of the characters were real people. I wish I had read the Author's Note first, before reading the book; knowing that some of the characters were real might have made the book more interesting to me. Indeed, during my reading, I did not give enough credit to one character, Julian, because I kept thinking that she wasn't entirely believable; come to find, she was an actual person!

Overall, I did not find the book's characters very compelling. I liked Kathryn, a main character, but didn't get enough of my two favorites - Agnes, the cook, and Magda, the girl she took in, both secondary characters. Finn, the "illuminator" (illustrator) for whom the book is named, was wholly uninteresting to me. Also, the three younger-generations characters were all too one-dimensional: a beautiful and pure daughter, a gentle and devout son, and a spirited and hot-headed son.

The story progressed like a soap opera, except everything is predictable. Just when I would think that there was an opportunity for a twist, or at least some suspense, the author would, without delay, tell me what happened next, which was usually exactly what I thought would happen.

The only part that was unpredictable was the ending, and not necessarily in a good way. I was disappointed in the way the book ended for almost all the characters, save a couple. For some, it seemed like the author chose to easily tie up a loose end just before it might actually develop into something interesting. Still, I have to admit, I have to give credit to the author for writing the unexpected.

I was not too keen on the author's penchant for using questions, posed either by the third-person narrator or by a character, as an internal thought. For example, instead of saying, "This blanket is red," she might say, "Is this blanket not red?"

Finally, I must say that I did appreciate the discussion of religion for the masses that served as part of the backdrop. Being set just before the Reformation, fear of the Church or of the King hid behind almost everything that occurred. And, it was a gentle reminder that we should not take our 21st century freedoms for granted.

Overall, a diverting read, if not engaging.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

★★★★½

Before reading this book, I knew of Afghanistan only as a geopolitical entity that has suffered and continues to struggle.

The Kite Runner finally introduced me to the people, culture, and language of Afghanistan. It's a loving book about a peaceful time in a beautiful country, which serves as the context in which a tragic story unfolds. Afghanistan is not so much a simple location for the novel, as it is a complex character itself, one that changes, falls victim to circumstances, and suffers.

Sadness and regret fill the pages of this book. There are only hints and pockets of happiness, some only in the form of nostalgia. Khaled Hosseini shows a very tender respect for Afghan tradition. There's a sense that things always come full circle, but it's up to you to decide whether you will ultimately pay for your sins or redeem yourself from them.

Some will probably complain that the manner in which redeption is achieved is predictable, but that didn't make its attainment any less satisfying for me. And despite the main character's weaknesses, the author successfully led me to the point of empathy.

Khaled Hosseini had a habit of interjecting earlier quotes as memories, to make sure the reader got his point; while normally I complain if an author is too explicit and doesn't give his reader enough credit, I wasn't so bothered this time. Maybe because Hosseini made his point, but didn't belabor it. Or maybe because his tendency to explain things also made him define the Farsi (I think) words, either explicitly or in context, and I like it when I can understand foreign words that are interspersed with English in books.

Overall, I found the book well-paced, and I generally overlooked the literary shortcomings described above. I subtracted half a star, though, because I was left with some unanswered questions relating to the main character's father, Baba. Though Baba's actions were central to the plot, his motives were never made clear, or even explored.

Avatar (2009)

★★★★★

What fun! I went into this movie reluctantly - Ken dragged me - but I left a huge fan. My first 3D experience! Actually, the 3D-ness was not central to the movie, it just made it a cool movie-going experience. Though unfortunately, this 3D movie was riddled with 2D characters. The plotline was not unique, and some story elements paralled current event issues, as often happens in sci-fi. Still, I loved the avatar conceit, and liked how Pandora (the alien world) closely resembled the Outlands in World of Warcraft, Zangarmarsh especially! So, despite its shortcomings, I'm giving it 5 stars because it was just so entertaining!

Nava - Atlanta, GA

★★★★½

Ken and I first ate at this restaurant about 10 years ago, when we had just started dating in Atlanta. Being back in the ATL for the holidays, we finally had a chance to go again. We loved it! It was actually better than we remembered. The decor is trendy in a southwestern style, but not overdone. The service was excellent, from our friendly waiter to the bartender and manager, both of whom offered to run out to feed our parking meter for us. My mojito was one of the best I've ever had, and the chocolate mud pie with Kalua ice cream we had for dessert was dee-lish. No complaints about our appetizers - fish tacos with a spicy sauce, Yucatan tortilla soup (very fragrant, poured at the table so the tortilla strips don't get soggy!), and baby mixed green salad (fresh, fruity, and light). The only thing slightly lacking about our experience had to do with the main dishes. Ken ordered the scallops, which he said were great, but not the best, though I thought his side of smoked tomato grits were fantastic. My jumbo shrimp were nicely cooked, but didn't really seem to go with the beans-and-cheese enchilada.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

★★★½

Perhaps I was too influenced by reviews beforehand. I expected to be blown away. Certainly some conclusions presented in this book were eye-opening, but I wouldn't say that I was "gasping in amazement".

I didn't mind that there wasn't any unifying theme - it just made the book more like a collection of essays, which is fine. I did mind, however, the lack of consistency throughout the book. Sometimes the authors backed up their conclusions by providing some data, addressing all significant factors, anticipating questions the reader might ask, then answering them. In this way, I thought the two chapters on crime and teachers / sumo wrestlers were the best written. Other chapters, like the one on parenting and education, were much less cogent. The authors seemed to hand-wave their way through explanations, and I was left with many unanswered questions.

Sometimes, the most interesting part of a chapter was not the data analysis - which was, at times, weak anyway - but the people involved and the context in which the data was acquired.

Overall, it's probably worth reading if you can get it for free. It does broaden your thinking and introduces you to unconventional ways of looking at things. Just approach it more like a light-hearted read, and less like an intellectual study.