the woman in black by susan hill

best. ghost. story. ever.

i've read it three times now. 

i wanted to get another reading in before the movie comes out next week (which i cannot wait for!!). from the looks of it, they've gotten a little free with the plot/story, but it's hollywood. what can you expect. 

as for the book: it never disappoints. chilling! every single time. 

the book is the story of arthur kipps, a young lawyer who is sent to settle the affairs of a recently deceased client. as soon as he arrives in town he begins to sense that there is some horror attached to his client and her house, which he brushes off as simple townsfolk nonsense. 

all too soon he is personally acquainted with the reality of those horrors, and pays a price for his meddling.

read it. ideally at night in the fall or winter. you won't be disappointed. 

cinderella ate my daughter by peggy orenstein

i read this for my book club. out of all the books we had to choose from, this was the one book i absolutely did not want to read.

i really enjoyed it.

i don't exactly know how to review this book, or summarize it. it's an exploration of how media, marketing, literature, technology, psychology, etc. affect our perception or understanding of what it is to be female/feminine.

i think i'm pretty safe from devolving into a vacuous barbie zombie; i'm discerning about what i watch on tv, what i read, what i wear and how i present myself to the outside world. i value my intellect more than my appearance; i'm selective about whose opinions i allow to influence my own. all that being said, all precautions being taken: sometimes i still end up being dazzled by the wrong things.

the book gave me a lot to think about and and made me re-evaluate how i look at things, how i judge things, how i perceive things, how i present myself, why i like the things i like, how i react to things. i'm coming away from it determined to be more aware of and more accountable for my interaction with outside influences. i would definitely recommend it (even if you don't have a daughter).

the hobbit by jrr tolkien

surprisingly, this is my first time reading the hobbit. i think i was turned off of it by that creepy cartoon movie that was perpetually on television when i was a kid. but i loved the lord of the rings series (novels and films) and i wanted to read it before the movie comes out. 

i like that the book completes the story in one volume; but at the same time, i often felt like i was being rushed. you're told a long time passes, rather than experiencing the passing of time with the character. you're told there is action rather than having it described to you in detail. i think this book leaves more for your own imagination to fill in than the lord of the rings trilogy. 

relatively easy to read, good characters, good messages (be brave, be wise, be fair, be loyal), a lot of story in one book. it left me wanting more . . . in a good way.  

i can't wait for december!

the girl with the dragon tattoo by stieg larsson

i really can't explain what possessed me to pick this book up. a whim.

i really don't see what all the hype is about. i mean, the movie looks pretty exciting, i'll give it that . . . 

but the book is just straight up genre fiction. entertaining, but devoid of any real moral substance or inspiration.

i doubt i'll read any of the others.