Friday Book and Movie Reviews

Wow. I feel like today is the first day I've had time to sit down, and I can't really remember anything significant that I did this week, but it feels good to know that babe will sleep a little while more. The last two days I've got to spend some time with my World Travelling Friend, Susie. Yesterday we didn't do much (hence the really bad post, sorry) except talk for hours and caught up. Today we went shopping at Hobby Lobby as she has a lot of downtime in the Peace Corps/Mauritania and needs a new hobby. I suggested knitting as it's cheap, easy to learn, and very portable. She also got a few small items for some of the girls who she has a club with over in Africa, some embroidery floss to make charm bracelets with.

She brought this awesome outfit for Lukka. It is what the locals would wear there to a formal event (wedding, etc.). It is very lightweight, even though it is pants. Thanks, Sus! Read more about Mauritania, West Africa here.

I've also finished two books this week, Baby Love by Rebecca Walker and Stiff by Mary Roach. I actually really liked both. On a scale of 1-5 (and you should know, I am SO stingy with my 5s--practically no one gets them) I give Stiff a 4 and Baby Love a 3.5. Miss Walker has excellent, articulate thoughts on parenting and the relationships with her own parents. Those sections were the parts I loved best, and although it is a book on pregnancy, I don't really want to be told how much she ate because a) it grosses me out and b) I do want another baby in the future, and that does nothing to get me in the mood of being pregnant again. However, if I would have read this while being pregnant, I would have given it a higher rating.
Stiff was very interesting, although not as good as her newest book, Bonk. If you get grossed out by watching surgeries on tv, know that I do too, and I loved this book. A few graphic parts, yes, but altogether a fascinating read on a subject that never gets talked about. Really want to see this after reading it (viewers beware).

Stefan and I also watched Annie Hall (1977) recently, and although we both realllllly dislike him, I loved it (Stefan, predictably, hated it). I thought it was pretty well done and the dialogue was good ( of course, Woody Allen's only good trait is that his dialogue is very clever, otherwise he's usually very irritating to me ). This was on my netflix queue because I had heard it was a "must see" from most serious movie watchers I know, and I like Diane Keaton. Out of 5, a solid 3 stars from me.

My next book I am really looking forward to reading is Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Happy Friday!