A WALK IN THE WOODS- by bill bryson

This book had been recommended to me by two people who's judgement I trust, and it didn't disappoint. Shelved in the travel section, Bryson shares his time on the Appalachian Trail in a humorous fashion that doesn't feel like the typical travel book. His stories of mishap, other hikers encountered on the trail, and of course, his hiking pal Katz, made me itch to take six months off work and set off on the 2200 mile hike from Atlanta to northern Maine. As an example of his gut busting style, here's one of my favorite quotes (which can be found on page 19): "What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die, of course. Literally sh*t myself lifeless. I would blow my sphincter out my backside like one of those unrolling paper streamers you get at children's parties- I daresay it would even give a merry toot- and bleed to a messy death in my sleeping bag."- Bill Bryson. Netflix rating? 4.5/5 stars.

Charms for the Easy Life: the Movie

After a day and a half spent with 5 10 year old girls, camping in the New Hampshire woods, I was pleased that my return to civilization yielded not only a needed shower, but also a new Netflix movie. I believe that books and movies each have their own merits and thus have no problem watching a movie based on a book. Since I'd just read Charms for the Easy Life, the story was fresh in my mind-- perfect for the compare and contrast. The movie was faithful to the book in most regards. The various vignettes, overdubbed by the voice of the daughter/granddaughter Margaret, were nice visual recreations of the book. The actual "charm" (a rabbit's foot) was featured much more prominently in the movie, which was a thoughtful, cohesive, touch. However, the movie was a made for cable film, and so it was what it was. The acting, costumes and scenery were all fine, but not amazing. It was a pleasant movie perfect to relax to after being hyper-alert for the previous 48 hours. Actual Netflix stars? 3.

Sister of My Heart

Several years ago a close friend moved from her home here in Boston, across country to San Diego. I met her through Steph and really only became close to her that final summer before she moved. She, Steph and I would go rollerblading along the Esplanade every week, we each made a quilt and genarally hung out like junior high BFFs. At the end of the summer, she had to get rid of a lot of stuff-- I bought some furniture off her, but she also gave me some of her paintings and sculptures. Within the stuff I inherited was a copy of a book entitled Sister of My Heart. It was a hardback book and the synopsis was about two cousins growing up in India and how they were close like sisters. Five years later I finally got around to reading it, and while it was corny at times, it was also all consuming-- I couldn't wait to finish it. It was easy to find parallels between Sudha's and Anju's friendship and mine with my friend. Obviously neither of us had an arranged marriage, but we've both lived through and shared major life changes and a recent business trip to San Diego allowed us both to talk about our relationships deep into the night, not unlike Sudha's ultimate trip to the U.S. to be with Anju and her husband. At first I thought the book would be straightforward, but it turned out to have a complexity I wasn't expecting: the choices the cousins make conflict with traditional story telling and place them in direct conflict with society's dictations, as well as their own desires. Their attachment to each other over the years, excluding those around them, was at times unbelievable, as were the Mothers' change of mind towards the end. The end of the book left many avenues open, so I wasn't surprised to see a sequal... The Vine of Desire. Netflix stars? 3.5 out of 5 (my love of the book and its characters increased throughout).

JEMIMA J- by jane green

To be honest, I finished this book a few weeks ago. I'd added it to my excel sheet when I first put it together, but never took it off after reading it. So here goes. I read this book in two days. All 384 pages of it. Having said this, the book was purely fluff, or chic lit as it's been called. The entire book can be summed up like this; overweight, unhappy and lonely girl is jealous of all her thin, beautiful and happy (and I should mention shallow) acquaintances. She's secretly in love with a gorgeous coworker, but he, or course, doesn't really notice her. Events make her determined to become super thin and beautiful, which she does by starving herself and exercising to the extreme. Upon reaching this goal, she realizes that it's not all it's cracked up to be (imagine that!) and finds that a happy middle ground where she's not stuffing her face or starving herself is really where it's at. There was nothing new or unique about this book- it was pretty predictable, and the message it was trying to send has been sent too many times already. However, it was enjoyable in a purely entertaining sense, with no expectations of learning anything new. Netflix rating? 2.5/5

three steps backwards

This month's bookclub book is "the painted veil" by w. somerset maugham. I had a gift certificate to barnes and noble, so stopped there on my way home tonight to pick up the book. I found it on a table of bestsellers with a sticker than said "buy 2, get the 3rd free." This is the trap I always fall into. I could have resisted, but since I wasn't technically paying money, I figured I'd see what they had. I left with two others, "veronika decides to die" by paulo coelho, and "plainsong" by kent haruf. They've now joined my list of unreads.

Charms For The Easy Life

Charms For The Easy Life came from my coworker. We were walking to the T after drinks one evening and she said she always carries books, but hadn't finished one in over a year. She stated this with the same kind of acceptance one has towards a gym membership: you pay for it, but never, or rarely go. And that's fine because it's there when you need it. So she pulled out of her bag Charms for The Easy Life and told me I'd like it. It's a small paperback and looked like an airport buy, so when it was cold and rainy the whole weekend, I settled into the couch and started reading. On Saturday I told G not to bother me and that I would do my chores on Sunday. As the cold rain poured outside, I enjoyed several of my favorite things: magical realism, women's friendships and the South. It was purely enjoyable and produced a fair cry at the end (possibly co-induced by my butt falling asleep on the couch) so on a Netflix scale of stars, I'd give it three out of five.