There are some presumptions that one makes almost unavoidably about writers and actors. After having seen Scarlett Johansson in Match Point, I expected her to play the ambitious sister is The Other Boleyn Girl, and I would hardly be the only person surprised if Rowling turned to psychological thrillers.

So perhaps you can imagine my surprise when Karen Joy Fowler, the writer of Jane Austen Book Club, turned out to have a background in SF & fantasy. The bestseller combination of book clubs and Jane Austen made me presume the author behind it had at best a resumé of Richard & Judy or Oprah titles, although more likely was that it was her first novel. So seeing her name revered on SF sites I could not leave it uninvestigated. It lead me to reading reviews of her books, and ultimately buying Sister Noon.

Sister Noon is a historical novel with some characteristics of speculative fiction, populated by many actual historical figures and is, indeed, centered around one such, called Mary Ellen Pleasant. The actual main character though is a middle-aged spinster called Lizzie, but Mrs. Pleasant still remains the mysterious driving force behind the story. Not only is the book full of beautiful language but also, remarkably, features one of the most unlikely (and yet very sympathetic) heroines I've encountered.

Luckily for me, Karen Joy Fowler's new novel had just come out when I finished Sister Noon, and that seemed equally distant in terms of genre from it as Sister Noon had seemed to be from Jane Austen Book Club.

Called Wit's End in US, Case of the Imaginary Detective in UK, the new book deals with the genre of detective novels. The main character Rima has lost her entire family and comes to stay with her godmother, a famous mystery writer Allison B. Early, creator of Maxwell Lane (whom I kept picturing as similar to 10th Doctor in appearance).
In parts the novel reminded me very strongly of Lumikko ja yhdeksän muuta, as both books have a slightly apathetic female main character who is a teacher and is dealing with loss while trying to solve the mysteries around a very famous writer. Both also portray a tightly-knit community that seems somewhat distant from reality. Admittedly Lumikko is much more plot-driven -the main characteristic of Imaginary Detective is that it's meandering -something that is has (to a degree) in common with Sister Noon. To me that's not necessarily a fault, and here it is not. For The Case of the Imaginary Detective is among other things about the nature of the reader-author relationship, about the fictional you vs. the real you, about stories and who owns them: to expect it to follow the conventions of a mystery novel would force it into a mould that it does not fit into. It all depends on what you expect. My expectations were probably influenced by me having just read Sister Noon, which is indeed the recommended order of reading these two books, in my opinion. Recommended they are, of that there is no doubt.

I have now started Fowler's first novel, Sarah Canary, and it is again something quite different. I am looking forward to another interesting reading experience.

Guess who's bored?

Christopher Moore: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal
Synopsis: The title really says it all.
Genre: Humoristic fantasy/historical fiction
Recommended for: Fans of Terry Pratchett who have run out of reading material. Anyone interested in Jesus Christ and historical settings.
Not recommended for: Christians without a sense of humour, people unfamiliar with the concept of fantasy.
Where to read: The story is gripping but not so demanding as to require one’s full concentration, so a very suitable book to be read on the beach (as long as the other sun worshippers don’t get too annoyed with sudden gasps of laughter).

Dodie Smith: I Capture the Castle (Finnish title: Linnanneidon lokikirja)
Synopsis: the diary of 17-year-old Cassandra living with her family in a crumbling castle in 1930s.
Genre: YA/ General fiction
Recommended for: Anyone who cries at the end of a movie. Maybe fans of Jane Eyre. Romantics, Anglophiles. Really, anyone who has been a girl, or been in love, can relate to this story.
Not recommended for: Cynical people with a short attention span. If you think “nothing happens” in Jane Austen’s books, then you might not have patience for this one either (although the writing style is very different).
Where to read: Ideally, at the summer cottage wearing an old cotton dress. If this is your kind of book, you’ll want to read it in one sitting, so reserve enough time.
Film adaption: pretty good, recommendable for fans of the book

Louis de Berniéres: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (Kapteeni Corellin mandoliini)
Synopsis: Love story between a local girl and an Italian captain on the island of Cephalonia during the WWII Italian and German occupation. Another plotline follows an Italian soldier.
Genre: Historical fiction/General fiction/LGBT interest
Recommended for: Eager readers, anyone interested in more than a black-and-white view of history, romantics, readers of magical realism.
Not recommended for: people who hate sentimental fiction.
Where to read: On a vacation in the Mediterranean. This a thick book with a relatively wide cast of characters and writing that can be better enjoyed with concentration. Read in the evening at the hotel, or on the plane (with the risk of appearing teary-eyed in public).
Film adaption: very, very bad!

Monika Fagerholm: Ihanat naiset rannalla (Swedish: Underbara kvinnor vid vatten, English: Wonderful Women by the Sea/by the Water)
Synopsis: Middle-class life in 1960s. Childhood’s end. The story follows the life of two families, and especially their summers at a seaside resort.
Genre: General fiction
Recommended for: anyone interested in the women’s movement and life in the 1960s. Readers who can appreciate subtle undertones and like to interpret what they read. Also, if you are an English speaker and want to read a good Finnish novel, read Monika Fagerholm (I can highly recommend her other novels too, but am not sure whether they have been translated).
Not recommended for: inexperienced readers
Where to read: Ideally, alone on the pier.
Film adaption: don’t remember that much about it so can’t really say.

Caroline Graham: the Midsomer Murders books, eg. The Killings at Badger’s Drift (Kämmekkä kukkii kuolemaa) and A Ghost in the Machine
Synopsis: British detective stories set in small village(s)
Genre: Mystery/detective stories/crime fiction
Recommended for: Fans of traditional British detective stories such as Agatha Christie
Not recommended for: readers used to fast-paced, action-packed crime fiction. Although Midsomer Murders has more lust and blood that Hercule Poirot novels, they still rely heavily on the small village-setting and the little grey cells of Inspector Barnaby.
Where to read: pretty much everywhere.
Tv-series: recommendable

Gregory Maguire: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Note! Huom! Has been recently translated! Finnish title: Noita)
Synopsis: Dorothy didn’t tell the whole story.
Genre: Fantasy/parallel novel/general fiction(/interpretation as political allegory possible)
Recommended for: Fans of alternative fiction, fans of Jeff Vandermeer, Wizard of Oz-enthusiasts, Harry Potter fans, history students
Not recommended for: I can’t really think of anything! Maybe if you haven’t read any kind of books with unexplained/supernatural elements, you might be put off with some scenes in this book. But really, most of the population is familiar with Harry Potter –and especially if you liked the last three Potter books (or at least 5 & 6), this is the obvious place to continue.
Musical adaption: Haven’t seen, I’m in Finland. Living in a country the size of a toenail sucks.

Hullujen päivien yhteydessä päädyin ostamaan Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläisen Lumikko ja yhdeksän muuta, tietenkin normaalihintaisena. Mutta sainpahan kirjalla kätevästi täytettyä
-osan turhasta luennosta
-pitkäksi venähtäneen kahvitauon
-muutaman junamatkan
-perjantain myöhäisillan.

Lainasin Jääskeläisen novellikokoelman kirjastosta joskus, mutta sain luettua vain pari tarinaa. Lumikkoakin olen kaupassa katsellut. Suhtauduin kuitenkin epäluuloisesti ensimmäisestä sivusta saamaani vaikutelmaan yhdistelmästä mieskirjailija+naispäähenkilö+lapsettomuus=myötähäpeä. Onneksi viallisten munasarjojen rooli jää melko pieneksi.
Jääskeläisen hieman paperinmakuinen, epärealistinen tyyli johon myös suhtauduin epäilevästi ei kuitenkaan katoa ensimmäisen sivun jälkeen minnekään, mutta yllättävän hyvin siihen tottuu. Tavallaan se jopa sopii tarinan sävyyn, vähän niin kuin vanhoissa dekkareissa on Maisteri Leppäsiä ja tohtorinna. Lumikon tyyli on osana luomassa sen fantasiasävytteistä maailmaa, suomalaista pikkukaupunkia joka ei aivan voisi olla olemassa muualla kuin rinnakkaistodellisuudessa.

Juuri romaanin maailma onkin sen suurin vahvuus. Laura Lumikon kirjoittamia Otuksela-kirjoja tekee väistämättä mieli päästä lukemaan ja Jäniksenselälle vierailemaan. Harmillista onkin, että kirjan maailmalla voisi tehdä paljon enemmänkin. Loppujen lopuksi romaanista suurin osa kuluu henkilöiden pelatessa Peliä, joka sivunmennen sanoen muistuttaa hiukan liikaa deus ex machinaa. Huomaan usein lukiessa ärtyväni jos henkilöt saavat asioita selville liian helposti.
Dialogikaan ei saa vääntelehtimään tuskastuneena, vaikka joitain heikkoja kohtia joukossa onkin. Ero verrattuna esimerkiksi toiseen esikoisromaaniin, Rajaan, jonka jätin kesken, on huomattava.

Tarina muistuttaa hieman Diane Setterfieldin romaania The Thirteenth Tale, ainakin alkulähtökohdiltaan: mystinen naiskirjailija, yllättävän kutsun saava nuori naispäähenkilö (jota Jääskeläinen kutsuu tytöksi, huolimatta siitä että tämä on valmis maisteri ja äidinkielenopettaja) ja salaisuuksia sisältävä menneisyys. Tunnelmassakin on jotain samaa: sekä Jääskeläisen että Setterfeldin romaanit onnistuvat jotenkin vaikuttamaan erittäin mukavilta, takkatulen ääressä luettavilta tarinoilta, vaikka molemmissa on aika häiritseviäkin kohtauksia.
Juoni on kuitenkin koukuttava, eikä loppukaan aiheuta pettymystä. Heikkouksistaan huolimatta Lumikko ja yhdeksän muuta oli kyllä sen noin kahdeksan euron arvoinen.

I finished reading Fall On Your Knees by Canadian writer Ann-Marie MacDonald late last night, one of those random picks from the shelf that one ends up gorging when there are a thousand other things to do. It's a historical novel encompassing the first half of the 20th century, but the world wars stay mainly in the background: the action is at home.

The story centers on the Piper family: James, originally Scottish Protestant who marries Materia, a Lebanese Catholic (the father-in-law does not approve); their oldest daughter Kathleen, future opera diva; Mercedes, the god girl; Frances, the bad girl; and Lily, the adored youngest child. I'm not usually too keen on family sagas, but Fall On Your Knees actually doesn't cover that many generations, leaving space for the characters to become familiar. No one is strictly speaking the main character though. The point of view shifts and everyone has a story to tell...Some are just more willing to tell it than others.

So yes, there are secrets and misapprehensions and small (and not-so-small) tragedies. Themes are mostly bleak and the atmosphere is somewhat ominous for most part of the novel. I learned only after I was some hundred pages in that Fall On Your Knees is Oprah's Book Club. In a way it's obvious: these characters sure would have things to tell on her couch.

Yet the book is unforgivably gripping, partly due to its fast pace, partly to its writing. The language is soft and silky and manages to keep the story away from the soap opera -level that it might sink to in the hands of a lesser writer.

Plot-wise the strongest parts are the beginning and the end, in the middle there are some weaker moments. The final sections especially show MacDonald's command of first person narrative which makes me hope there had been more of it. Apparently there is another novel, The Way the Crow Flies, but as it's main character is apparently an 8-year-old, I suspect it, too, is mostly told in third person.

Let it be stated for the record that Juno is not worthy of an Oscar or the rave reviews it has received. It is, at best, a three-star comedy with an overly quirky main character of no other substance than her punchlines, a romance nearly inexplicable and a heartwarming ending merely annoying in all its warmth.
On the plus side: good music (including my favourite Belle&Sebastian song).

In addition to the occasional movie, I've been reading a melodramatic Canadian novel which has more teenage pregnancies than any ex-stripper could come up with in a single screenplay, listening to Carla Bruni's (now wife to the French President) No Promises, an album of British and American poetry composed to music which is actually quite good.

( This is probably just a result of writing both in English and Finnish )

I finished Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness some days ago and found it rather good. The structure of the book is brilliant in that information about the world and situation is presented bit by bit. Some things reminded me of Vandermeer's Ambergris, because of the feeling of exploring an alien world.

However, during two thirds of The Left Hand of Darkness I was conscious of reading a novel of ideas rather than a novel of characters. Don't get me wrong, they are interesting ideas, and, even more importantly, presented well and in good writing. But yet I still liked most of all the chapters from Lord Estraven's viewpoint, as they were more concerned with characters as individuals, and also had a more unique voice (that of a somewhat bitter exile). Genly Ai is for a main character rather colourless (for some reason I imagined him as a Chinese Tintin), getting more interesting only towards the end.

Currently most of my reading time is taken by school-related novels and textbooks. However, The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedina that I bought for myself as a Christmas present has just arrived (Amazon took considerably longer than usual) and am eager to read that. No book recommended by Neil Gaiman has let me down so far...

Some time ago, I finally finished reading Pride & Prejudice (to make a long story short: I just cannot be as fond of it as of Sense & Sensibility or Emma, but I would recommend it) and after that watched the 2005 film version, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen (who would have been a new face to me, had I not, through a strange coincidence, watched the tv-series Murder Rooms that he appears in that same week).

As a fan of the BBC miniseries of P&P but not of Miss Knightley, I was, well, prejudiced. Yet I would claim that I wouldn't have liked the movie even if I had not seen the miniseries.
( cut for length )

Soon after P&P, I watched another movie directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley -Atonement, based on the novel by Ian McEwan. After that I was ready to forgive Wright and even Knightley, to some degree.

( Again cut for length )

My Mp3 player has been dead for weeks and I have been too lazy to do anything about it. Not being able to listen to music on the bus has not been as awful as I expected, but I still miss it sometimes, most often when I'm in the mood for a song that I do not have easily available in other format.

So, randomly, some songs I have missed [click for download]:

Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Death Cab's I Will Follow You Into the Dark is the most over-used song in the history of fanmix, but if I ever did a mix for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, this would be on it.

Devotchka - How It Ends
Like everyone else, heard the song when it was used on the Everything is Illuminated trailer and loved it. Too bad the film sucks.

Zero 7 - Somersault
Full lyrics here.

Radiohead - Myxomatosis
After reading this comparative study about Haruki Murakami and Radiohead, I felt that Myxomatosis was the song most likely inspired by The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Lately the band has been on my mind because I've listened a lot to Rubik (which I have already mentioned is very much like Radiohead). Also, I'm in the middle of Murakami's latest, After Dark.

Somehow I have already used way too much time and still haven't got to the point of this post, the Order of the Phoenix movie that I saw last week.
( Cut for spoilers )

I also finished Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock today, and as it's highly unlikely that I'll do a full review, let me just say that it's worth a read.

Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited
Part One is reminiscent of E. M. Forster's Maurice, but Waugh's main theme is, in the end, Catholicism. Still, beautiful prose and decadence.
Suggestions for soundtrack: Rufus' Leaving for Paris no 2 and Tiergarten, also practically everything by Ed Harcourt.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Fun, too long, plot-wise completely nonsensical and at times sort of anticlimactic. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the previous two.
( Here be spoilers )

Zodiac
Didn't make me feel too queasy and has both Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. Also, I watched CSI and Law & Order for years and have read a part of Patricia Cornwell's Jack the Ripper book. Serial killer stories are interesting, as long as the actual killing part isn't described or shown in too much detail.

Spiderman 3
Just one word: fanmix. For a superhero action movie, this film has been an inspiration for an awful lot of teenage girls.
And it has Kirsten Dunst.

And now I'm off to watch Miss Marple. Have a great weekend.

Täällä mainitun ranskalaisen Céline Curiolin romaanin Viimeinen kuulutus jälkeen olen ehtinyt lukea myös Jean Rhysin Good Morning, Midnight ja Voyage in the Dark, niistä ehkä lisää vielä joskus, nyt hetkeksi Ranskasta Suomeen.

Olen ylipäänsä lukenut suomalaista kirjallisuutta erittäin vähän, ja nekin harvat kirjailijat joista pidän (Kjell Westö, Monika Fagerholm) kirjoittavat ruotsiksi. Olin muutama viikko takaperin kuitenkin kuuntelemassa paria suomalaista esikoiskirjailijaa ja tuntui taas siltä että pitäisikö kuitenkin yrittää edes vähän lukea jotain suomalaista nykyproosaa. Juha Itkosta olin harkinnut jo aiemmin, ja hän sattui myös olemaan Imagen positiivisen Viimeisen kuulutuksen arvostelun kirjoittaja, joten Anna minun rakastaa enemmän lähti lopulta mukaani pokkarihyllystä.

Käytinkin viime sunnuntain sitten melko lahjakkaasti loikoillen sängyllä Itkosen kirjan kanssa. Hieman otti päähän että olin viivytellyt näinkin pitkään, Anna minun rakastaa enemmän olikin nimittäin parempi kuin olisin ikinä osannut kuvitella. Se on hyvin kirjoitettu, kauniisti kirjoitettu, paikoitellen erittäin osuvasti kirjoitettu. Kaksi eri kertojanääntä, eri sukupolvia edustavat Antti ja Leena, eivät ehkä aina erotu toisistaan niin selvästi kuin voisi toivoa, mutta juonen kannalta tämä tekniikka toimii. Ja juoni toimii myös, jos unohdetaan suomalaisen Tori Amos-tyyppisen laulajan maailmanvalloituksen epätodennäköisyys -ja itse asiassa tästäkin huolimatta Summer Maple istutetaan pop-historiaan uskottavasti, viitauksilla ja aidontuntuisilla lehtileikkeillä.

Minusta tuntuu kuitenkin että vaikka teoksen kirjalliset ansiot olisivat vähäisemmät, en silti voisi olla pitämättä siitä, samalla tavalla kuin pidän Katja Kallion Kuutamolla-romaanista. Antaisin anteeksi sen virheet koska, no, siinä puhutaan musiikista, sen henkilöissä on jotain todentuntuista ja tuttua, tarinassa jotain minkä takia haluan lukea Anna minun rakastaa enemmän joskus uudestaan.

Sitten vielä sivuhuomio: jos Summer Maple olisi totta, hän olisi luultavasti yksi lempiartisteistani. Kirjaa lukiessani kuvittelin hänen musiikkinsa muistuttavan Tori Amosin Little Earthquakes-albumia (tosin myös Girl Disappearing ADP:ltä, jota olen tietenkin kuunnellut viime päivinä ahkerasti, toi Summer Maplen mieleeni), enemmän Stina Nordenstamia kuin Aimee Mannia, ehkä jotain sellaista kuin Regina Spektorin Summer in the City ja Kristin Hershin The Letter. Suomalaisista lähinnä Astrid Swan, ei misään nimessä Hanna Marsh.

Instead of continuing with Emma, today I decided to finish Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale that I was reading before Austen interfered.

I bought the book on a whim about two weeks ago and read most of it in the space of 24 hours. Because of the nature of the many enthusiastic posts at various LJ communities, as well the traditional "The No. 1 New York Times bestseller" on the front cover and a quote from Kate Mosse on the back, I was expecting a Bookclub Book -something better, yes, than The Lovely Bones and the like, but Oprah nevertheless. Instead I got something else.

I haven't read enough classics to recognize all the books that Setterfield pays homage to, although Jane Eyre is the one that is constantly brought up in the course of the story (I was also strongly reminded of Tanith Lee's Dark Dance, which disturbed me about two or three years ago), but basically The Thirteenth Tale is a modern gothic story, with textbook examples of devices and settings and styles used by the Brontës, Wilkie Collins and others. It is devilishly entertaining and has the necessary twist that appears just when you begin to think that the author has revealed all her cards. It is also very well written.

I don't think I have ever read another book more suitable for dusty leather covers, but unfortunately my paperback copy has the kind of dull ones that are to be expected from major 21st century publishers. The only good thing about this is that the paperback was cheap and therefore didn't make me feel too guilty -although as it is partly due to The Thirteenth Tale that I finally bought a copy of Jane Eyre in English to keep even that advantage can be questioned.

I just thought it might be a good idea to at least briefly mention these books and movies if I'm going to do Best of the Year -lists again.

( The Devil Wears Prada )
( Marie Antoinette )
( Jade Warrior )
( Casino Royale )
( Eragon )
( Pan's Labyrinth )
( Swordspoint )

Aloitin joululomani kuuntelemalla Jonna Tervomaata ja lukemalla hetken mielijohteesta Katja Kallion Kuutamolla koska olin sillä tuulella (tietenkin täysin hyväksyttävä syy, silloinkin kun kesken on jo ennestään ainakin viisi romaania).

( Kuutamolla: levoton tarina rakastamisesta )

I've managed to get absolutely nothing done today, partly due to Night Watch by Sergei (sometimes transliterated as Sergey) Lukyanenko. It's a Russian fantasy/horror novel and was also made into a film that was a major blockbuster hit in Russia, if not internationally -I was going to go see it, but then heard that it was based on a book and decided to read it first. There are still no news of a Finnish translation, but the English one is apparently doing quite well.
I'm not finished reading it yet, but the novel seems to consist of three separate stories and every review of the book that I've found so far only mentions the first one: see, for example, this.

One of the problems with fantasy (or any kind of) stories that have a lot of terms to be translated is that different translators will unavoidably have different versions. When Harry Potter hit the screen, I remember being worried that the subtitles might use the original English names instead of the ones most Finns were familiar with. One of terms used constantly in Night Watch is the Twilight, but if you start googling around, you'll notice that it's also the Gloom -my guess is that the latter is used in the movie.
But that is only a minor annoyance, and so far the translation has been mostly very good. The amount of exclamation marks is considerably higher than what I'm used to, but I think they are the original author's, not the translator's.
But man it's weird to see a reference to Lumene in an English-language book, even if it's just a translation.

Edit: Lukyanenko has a livejournal (doctor_livsy) but it's in Russian.
Also: Night Watch is available in Swedish, according to SF Bokhandeln, but not available for order through Akateeminen.

The undeniable fact of short story collections is that all of the stories can never be good, and coming across two bad stories in a row might make you drop the book entirely. I originally started reading Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors some years ago and found it uneven in quality. About halfway through I skipped right to the last story that I had heard good things about (Snow, Glass Apples), but having just read a similar (better) tale by Tanith Lee even it was sort of disappointing and I put Smoke and Mirrors aside, intending to finish it someday.

Now, I've always preferred (long) novels to short stories (although with my ridiculously short attention span it should be the other way round), but lately I have had serious trouble trying to finish anything longer than two pages. After reading Anansi Boys I've started two books, but for no particular reason have struggled with both. And they're in Finnish.

Since I had read both American Gods and Anansi Boys in record time, the obvious solution was to read more Gaiman. I knew Fragile Things would be coming out soon but thought that the sensible thing to do would be to finally finish reading his first collection before buying the second one.
( Short stories on paper )

And although this was more influenced by Charlotte Gainsbourg's music than by reading short stories, I think these two reviews fit in the same entry nicely: I went to see the episodic movie Paris, je t'aime with a schoolfriend.
( Short stories on screen )

Random Notes
-For those who enjoyed Snow, Glass Apples: try Tanith Lee's Red As Blood, published in the collection titled Forests of the Night (also includes one of my favourite short stories ever, The Tree: a Winter's Tale).
-In addition to Gaiman's story The Daughter of Owls, John Aubrey also appears in the alternative history vampire novel Deliver Us from Evil by Tom Holland.
-If you're bored, try counting how many film critics claim that the vampire story in Paris, je t'aime is by Wes Craven (according to IMDb, it's by Vincenzo Natali).
-My review of the novel that the husband reads in the Bastille segment is here.

Our computer is back in action. Yay.

I started counting how many books I actually read, from beginning to end, this summer, and the number is -drumroll here, please- a measly 7: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (a re-read), Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, Diiva and Ihanat naiset rannalla (Wonderful Women by the Sea) by Monika Fagerholm, American Gods by Neil Gaiman and the Finnish translation of City of Saints & Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer (a re-read).

But in addition to these I nearly finished or at least got halfway through a number of other books: Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray (read about 90%), The Gift by Vladimir Nabokov (read 70%) and Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl (read 50%).
( Excuses and explanations )
( Gaiman...again )

We're currently having some computer-related problems (again), but if I don't write this soon I will forget what I wanted to say.

( Espoo Ciné )

If some of the sentences make no sense, it's because I'm tired and hate using public (or semi-public) computers.

Me and Neil, or, The Story So Far

I read, or rather devoured, Neverwhere about five(?) years ago: I still hadn't read much fantasy and totally romanticized London, so Gaiman felt like the best thing since Rowling.
( This is long and mostly pointless )
( American Gods: written by an Englishman and reviewed by a Finn )

I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest yesterday with N and her sister, and squee, it was fun!

I sensed some improvement in Orlando Bloom's performance, although Keira Knightley's still barely bearable. Sparrow steals the show, of course.
One of the new characters, Tia Dalma (played by Naomie Harris) annoyed me to no end but Jack Davenport (Norrington) makes up for it. I hope he will start getting bigger parts after this, he'd deserve it.

I had heard the movie's overlong, but it certainly held my attention (indeed, when I realized the end was obviously approaching I hoped it would be longer).
But gah, I hate the way they've turned this into a trilogy: plot-wise, this second part is the one with all threads left dangling and we have a year to wait, at least! ( Spoilers )