A THOUSAND DAYS IN VENICE by Marlena De Blasi

Genre: Biography and MemoirISBN: 0345457641How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: January 20, 2005Completed Reading: January 27, 2005
Overall rating: Six out of ten
Recommendation to others: Simple story of romance at a mature age, filled with sensual descriptions of regional Venice and the food it inspires.
Further Reading By This Author: A Thousand Days in Tuscany : A Bittersweet Adventure
Comments: [...]

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS

January 19, 2005 at Cinemark Town Center, Sherman, Texas

HERO (rental)

LOVE THE HARD WAY (rental)

From time to time, I really enjoy these type of stories: dirty New York street stories… young people living the lowest form of existence, meeting up with others who want to taste a little bit of that for themselves. And if it’s presented as a romance, all the better. For some reason, every once in [...]

TROY (rental)

Once again, I’ve come to disagree with the critics. I was fully prepared to find as much fault with Troy as every other critic has stated. But I also knew that my interest in Eric Bana was enough to make me sit through this film, despite all negative reviews and commentary. The only good thing [...]

Oscar Ritual 2005 : GARDEN STATE (rental)

There are movies that we enjoy, that might make us laugh, might make us cry, and sometimes even touch us in a way we didn’t expect. And then there are movies that reach deep down into the very core, scraping away surface grime and forcing us to evaluate what’s buried underneath. For me, Garden State [...]

LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel

Genre: Literature and FictionISBN: 0676973779How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: January 17, 2005Completed Reading: January 21, 2005
Overall rating: 8.5 out of ten
Recommendation to others: There are stories that will stay with you for as long as memory serves, stories that are good and then great and then mesmerizing, yet so simplistic in their grandeur. Life of Pi [...]

Oscar Ritual 2005 : MARIA FULL OF GRACE (rental)

There is such critical praise being heaped on this film that I couldn’t wait to see it. And on first impression, it’s very well worth all of that praise. My only regret is that I don’t understand the Spanish language and, therefore, had to watch this film with subtitles. I’m sure the emotional impact would [...]

OPEN WATER (rental)

This movie played to my absolute worst fears: swimming amongst ocean life. My fear of the water is summed up in one line from this film: “I hate not seeing what’s under me!” And in perpetuating that fear, Open Water is definitely on my list of top five scary films. [As yet, nothing beats the [...]

OFFICE SPACE (television)

MONA LISA SMILE (Starz)

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden

Genre: Literature and FictionISBN: 0965084740How Acquired: BookCrossingReading Began: January 7, 2005Completed Reading: January 8, 2005
Overall rating: 8.5 out of ten
Recommendation to others: Highly recommended to readers with interest in non-Western cultures and/or the shrouded world of geisha. This author makes it difficult to remember that this is simply a novel and not a true memoir.
Further [...]

THE AVIATOR

January 2, 2005 at Cinemark Town Center, Sherman, Texas

2005 READING CALENDAR

It is my intent, in 2005, to read all of the books that were received in 2004 as part of my involvement in BookCrossing before tackling the many other books that I have purchased in the past. While I have sprinkled a few of my own purchases in the midst of this list, I fully [...]