I can’t believe this is the final novel in J.K. Rowling’s series. And yet, after reading it, there can be no doubt that this is the end of the series. I was worried about this book — mainly that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. But J.K. Rowling has had the entire series, from beginning to end, mapped out since she first started writing about Harry Potter and his friends, and I’d say that the 17 years of planning that went into this book should have allayed any concerns I had about the ending of this series, because I needn’t have worried: the ending works and is satisfying. Disturbing, but satisfying.

Warnings: there are some plot details ahead (though nothing that will really spoil the surprises in store for you), so stop reading if you don’t want to know anything before reading the book yourself! (more…)

Victorine Laurent was raised to believe her mother died during her birth, and her father was unknown. Passed back and forth between two abusive aunts during her childhood, Victorine’s aunts finally bring her to Paris on her thirteenth birthday and leave her to be enrolled in the chorus of the Paris Opera Ballet. Without any family or prospects, her only hope in life is to become the mistress of a rich man who will take care of her, and Victorine soon finds herself servicing middle-class men on the side in order to support herself.

At first, it seems she is only destined to be one step above the cheapest of prostitutes. But one day, a friend introduces her to the young painter Edouard Manet who has requested that she model for him after seeing her at the ballet. Victorine agrees and what follows is a painting that shocks all of Paris with its blatant sexuality. Overnight, Victorine has become the most sought after courtesan in Paris and her fame spreads throughout Europe as she becomes Manet’s favorite model and poses for many more of his controversial modernist paintings. (more…)

Charlene at The Literary Word nominated me as a Rockin’ Girl Blogger! She says:

I was awarded this for my blog, and it’s tradition to pass them to others who inspire us also. I love reading your blog and think you make an excellent Rockin’ Blogger!

Thank you very much, Charlene! You rock, too!

Knocked Up is a novel based on journalist Rebecca Eckler’s real life pregnancy. On the night of her engagement party (which her friends will later jokingly refer to as The Conception Party), Eckler and her fiance get drunk, and go home to a night of unprotected sex. She wakes up the next morning absolutely positive she’s pregnant, and it turns out she’s right. What follows is an account of her pregnancy as she prepares herself for parenthood with her fiance.

This book is funny — very funny. I rarely laugh out loud when I’m reading, but I did numerous times with this novel. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a light, fun read.

In related news, there is some controversy brewing over Rebecca Eckler’s novel and the movie of the same name starring Katherine Heigl that was recently released. Eckler believes the movie is based on her book, and she should be credited for it. I haven’t seen the movie yet (I’m going to see it with my book club later this month when we gather to discuss this book), but if it IS true that the movie based itself heavily on Eckler’s book, then yes, she should be credited for it. Though, with the media attention given to this controversy, I’d think Eckler has already been (unofficially) credited and she’s gotten some great promotion for her book –enough to prompt at least one book club to read her novel and then go see the movie for comparison. So I’d say she came ahead in that respect. But as someone with aspirations to write a novel of my own one day, I can understand why she’d be unhappy about it and that the extra promotion her novel is getting isn’t really the point here. So despite my general dislike of Katherine Heigl, I’m looking forward to seeing the movie and looking for the similarities. I’ll update this post with my thoughts when I do.

Update (July 30, 2007): Saw the movie with my book club and the consensus was that the movie and the book share pretty much nothing in common but the title. Honestly, I don’t see how Eckler can claim that she should be credited. I think this article says everything I think about the matter (thanks to my friend Deb for the link).

By the way… the movie is hilarious. I laughed a lot, as did pretty much everyone else in the theatre. I’d watch it again.

Twenty years ago, seventeen-year-old Paul Copeland was a summer camp counselor making out with his girlfriend Lucy in the woods behind their coed camp when he should have been keeping watch. Only a short distance away, four teenagers, including Paul’s sister Camille, sneak into the woods together. Two of them are never seen again, including Camille, and the bodies of the other two are found brutally murdered, one tied up, the other buried in a shallow grave.

Today, Paul is the county prosecutor in Essex, New Jersey. He’s successful, respected and on the path to great things. But he’s had a lot of tragedy in his life: his sister’s body has never been found, and his mother, having never recovered from Camille’s death, abandoned Paul and his father shortly after that night in the woods and never returned. His father, gone crazy from searching the woods for Camille’s body over the last twenty years, recently died. And to top it all off, Paul has also become a widower in the last year, left to raise his six-year old daughter on his own after his wife loses the battle with a long illness. (more…)