Some Reviews

I never realized how important librarians were. I always just sort of pictured them sitting behind the desk, checking out your books, and administering late fees. I could never understand why you needed a Master's Degree to do that. Then I read

Scott Douglas really opened my eyes to how much good a quality librarian can be to a community. He has so many stories of people he helped, from feeding hungry kids to helping someone craft a resume to being a good friend to some older patrons who lacked company in their lives. He tells his stories in a swift moving, humorous way that never comes across as self-righteous. He did not speak highly of the Master's program he had to take to become an official librarian. It seems that my suspicions were somewhat founded. I do feel like a Master's is necessary in this field, but should concern itself more with psychology or group dynamics than the Dewey Decimal system. I followed this up with

Yes, that is Hugh Laurie from "House." I was a little skeptical of this novel based on that fact, but it turns out that Mr. Laurie can write really well. He wasn't just given a free ride based on his cable television fame. This book is funny, suspenseful, and, best of all, full of British humor and dialogue which I love. The plot is well thought out and quite complicated. This will definitely become a movie soon. I can only hope that Simon Pegg will star in it. Moving from print to the big screen, Ivey and I watched

yesterday. I liked it. It's not my favorite Woody Allen film (that honor goes to "Anything Else"), but it definitely has his touch all over it. I was a little annoyed by the two female leads, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson, for playing the "I just don't know what I want" role a little too much. Javier Bardem starts off as kind of a sleaze, but he really comes off pretty well. One of my favorite aspects of this film was how Allen gave more than usual depth to Chris Messina's charachter, Doug. He could have portrayed him as the one-dimensional New York businessman, all money and gadgets and conservative leanings, but he manages to get out quite a few intelligent, well-spoken lines and really leans the audience more into his corner. Penelope Cruz was totally amazing and by far my favorite character in the film. You will think about this one for awhile after it is over, as Woody never gift wraps and ending for us, which I really like. It's not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.