Movies of the Month: April 2008

Lest you think all I do is sit around day in and day out with a book in hand, I'll have you know I also watch movies. Sometimes. Not as much. Here's an April wrap-up (*= saw it in the theater).

Books of the Month: April 2008

Dear Readers,
It's the last day of the month. I've read just enough these past thirty days to qualify for a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. Or I would if they still had that greasy incentive and if I were still nine years old. Although I've been on a book-buying binge for several months, it seems like I've really kept the library in business in April. Here's the list of what I've read (*= library book). They're all winners in their own way.

Love in the Time of Cholera

The film Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), directed by Mike Newell, is an accomplished and faithful screen adaptation of the modern classic, CliffNotes on Love in the Time of Cholera. This film brilliantly hits all the major plot points whilst successfully avoiding Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez's arrestingly beautiful language, complex themes, and challenging character development. Missing is Garcia Marquez's consideration of the multiple types of love -- filial, marital, or what have you. Instead, the film's viewer is exposed to only the obsessive and sexual variety of amour. Viewers needn't bother themselves with metaphor or struggle with complex characters and themes. I highly recommend this film to any high school student who must turn in a term paper or take a quiz on Gabriel Garcia Marquez's challenging work tomorrow. Indeed, high school boys will surely appreciate the abundant nipple shots placed at regular intervals throughout the film. To most anyone else, skip the movie. Read the book.

Library Economics Revealed

To follow up on my previous posts about the Friends of the Seattle Public Library book sale and Freakonomics, I'd like to offer you, dear readers, some inside tips on the seedy underbelly of library economics.

This morning's sale represents one of the very few times when the public library offers a fair deal on books to the local community. Books! All the books you want! Only one dollar (each)! It's a great deal, and it's unfortunate that the library has chosen to be hospitable and affordable only twice a year.

Normally, the library lures readers in with its vast array of fiction and non-fiction titles, not to mention magazines and newspapers. Patrons' eyes glaze over and they fail to read the fine print on the price tag. I have simply been taken in by this no-money-down deal one too many times. Sure, life is great with your new book during that first three week grace period. For houses and La-Z-Boy recliners, a no-money-down purchase is always and unambiguously the best. Not so with books.