i m N s h o

(Or, a lesson in not judging a book by its cover.) Lately I've been having a tough time finding something to read that holds my attention for more than a couple of chapters. Apparently I'm jaded when it comes to science fiction and nothing new has captured my imagination. Vampires, one of my stand-by genres, have been taken over by Romance and YA authors (with a few notable exceptions), and werewolves and other things that go bump in the night have been dragged along with them. (Zombies seem to be immune from the romance infiltration, presumably because it's tough to make the shambling, mindless undead sexy… but zombies have never been one of my favorite tropes, so that doesn't do me much good.) There have been some interesting books in the dark fantasy area… The Blade Itself and Iron Angel come to mind, and Interred with Their Bones was a great read as well (think of it as a Shakespearian DaVinci Code). But scattered amongst those books, I've started and stopp...

Three movies in two weekends is hardly surprising for me… I love going to movies and will indulge pretty much any time I get the chance. Finding only one out of the three that I really liked is a lower average than I usually manage, however. I wasn't terribly surprised to find Jennifer's Body lacking (pun intended). Reviews have not been kind, and its ranking on Rotten Tomatoes simply reinforces that impression. Sadly, it starts out well enough, but by the midpoint of the movie (about the time you find out how Jennifer becomes the demonic creature we've been watching for the past hour) the movie starts to collapse under the weight of its own irony. Evil indie rock bands and over-the-top frothy formal gowns left me wondering why I was wasting my time. By the time it dug itself out of the depths of its ironic indulgence, I was over it all. But I was surprised by my reaction to The Informant . Reviews for this one have been much better (no surprise), and Matt Damon...