Labels: Jewish, literary fiction
Monday, December 8
Sunday, November 30
Labels: film
Thursday, November 13
Sunday, November 9
Labels: historical novel
Sunday, November 2
Labels: comedy
Friday, October 31
Labels: fiction
Wednesday, October 29
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick, light reading
Tuesday, October 14
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Labels: historical novel, literary fiction
Labels: fiction
Monday, September 8
Wednesday, August 13
Labels: literary fiction
Labels: musical
Thursday, July 17
Labels: literary fiction
Sunday, July 6
Labels: documentary
Sunday, June 29
Saturday, June 28
Sunday, June 22
Labels: comedy
Saturday, June 21
Friday, June 20
Thursday, June 19
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick, light reading
Monday, June 9
Labels: documentary
Sunday, June 8
Labels: documentary
Saturday, June 7
Monday, June 2
Labels: period drama
Sunday, June 1
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Wednesday, May 28
Thursday, May 22
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick, Jewish
Tuesday, May 13
Sunday, May 11
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Wednesday, May 7
Labels: literary fiction
Monday, May 5
Labels: documentary
Saturday, May 3
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Sunday, April 27
Labels: documentary
Saturday, April 26
Monday, April 21
Labels: historical novel
Sunday, April 13
Labels: Jewish
Saturday, April 12
Saturday, April 5
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Sunday, March 23
Thursday, March 20
Labels: historical novel, Jewish
Saturday, March 15
Friday, March 14
Friday, March 7
Friday, February 22
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Monday, February 18
Labels: Jewish
Saturday, February 9
Sunday, February 3
Labels: Jewish
Saturday, January 26
Labels: documentary
Tuesday, January 22
Saturday, January 19
Friday, January 18

Failure to Launch: This was free on demand and I knew Adam would be falling asleep, so I watched it. It was... fine. For what it was. I do like SJP, so that was fun, and Zooey Deschanel is likable. But the movie was a little flat and unsurprising.
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Wednesday, January 9
Friday, January 4

Music and Lyrics: What is up with this movie? There was not an iota of chemistry between Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. It was just a tad over the top.
Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Wednesday, January 2
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer: I was fascinated by the story of Morman Fundamentalism, although I felt that Krakauer was unfair to the more mainstream Mormonism; while I have concerns about any religion in the extreme, I thought that he used the fundamentalism to paint a really negative picture of Mormons in general. That said, the story of the murder that's the center of this account is horrifying. I will say, I found it very difficult to keep track of all the players in this book, as everyone had many wives and married stepchildren and whatnot that I found myself just sort of guessing who was related to whom.
Monday, December 17
Waitress: Go watch this film. NOW! I mean it. I loved, loved, loved this film. I've been a huge fan of Adrienne Shelley ever since The Unbelievable Truth and she does an amazing job with this film. On the surface, it's a fairly bleak movie: a waitress becomes pregnant by her abusive husband, thus trapping her in her marriage. But--much like those Hal Hartley films--Shelley finds the humor in it all and it turns into quite the empowering, uplifting story. Everyone in it is so good: Keri Russell (not a hint of Felicity here!), Cheryl Hines, Shelley, and even Andy Griffith! Are you still reading this? Damn it, stop! Go rent this!
Sunday, December 16
Superbad: Okay, to be honest, I planned to watch this while I finished writing holiday cards. Nope. This film was really funny and deserved more than half my attention. It was so much fun, and the high school dialogue was dead-on. A perfect snowy day film.
Friday, December 7
Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish: The premise of this book is that happiness can be just as compelling as unhappiness (from Tolstoy's "happy families are all alike" critique in the beginning of Anna Karenina), and while it's an interesting conceit, I just didn't think this book lived up to it's promise. I think the main problem was I found the hero to be rather creepy and pushy, and I wasn't convinced that this strong protagonist would fall for him. That said, the writing was great with some excellent descriptions. This is a notch higher than chick lit, but I found it a bit too chick lit-y to be really great.
Tuesday, November 20
Sunday, October 28
Runaway Jury: Watched for work (but enjoyed).
Saturday, October 13
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert: I wanted to love this book. It had every element that I devour: travel, food, romance. But something stopped me. The book was extremely well written and Gilbert is an immensely likable person. Yet, when I put the book down, I wasn't compelled to pick it back up again and finally, I had to say, "Enough's enough; finish this already." Not sure what my deal was with it. I think I'm the only person alive not to go ga-ga here.
Sunday, October 7
Slummy Mummy by Fiona Neill: Light. Fun. The best of the "mommy lit" that I've read. No one was totally evil, no one was completely blameless and the ending was spot on even in its utter ludicrousness.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Saturday, September 29
Wednesday, September 26
Saturday, September 8
The Manny by Holly Peterson: Light. Froufy. Fun. A solid beach read.
Sunday, September 2
Rashi's Daughters, Book I: Joheved by Maggie Anton: What an incredibly disappointing book. I was quite interested in the subject matter--a woman in medieval times studying Talmud--but the writing was heavy handed and uninspiring. I learned little about the Talmud, little about medieval times, and little about the lives of people in the time. The characters were broadly drawn, clearly meant to illustrate a point. I won't be reading the sequel.Labels: Jewish
Tuesday, August 21
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman: Wow. This book blew me away. A newborn daughter dies of SIDS and the mom must still forge a relationship with her somewhat unlikable five-year-old stepson. Waldman creates such a rounded, believable character--Emelia is immensely flawed and at times the reader wonders about her--but so real. Beautifully written. Superb.
Saturday, August 18
Confetti: I'm a sucker for British films. And a sucker for mockumentaries. So give me a British mockumentary, and I'm a happy camper. This was cute. I wouldn't recommend it unless you too are a fan of either British films or mockumentaries, but it was fun, the story of a three couples competing for the weirdest wedding award.
Thursday, August 9
Daniel Isn't Talking by Marti Lembech: American woman, standoffish British husband, lovely daughter, autistic son: Elements about Daniel's autism are strikingly portrayed, but the husband and the therapist are surprisingly one-dimensional. The romance is too predictable but the aspects of mothering an autistic child make the book worthwhile.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Monday, August 6
Me, You, and Everyone We Know: Quirky! Almost vignette in quality, the individual stories do tie together, but each person is so lonely and so lost. Ending is as happy as could be, and the feeling is oddly upbeat.
Saturday, August 4
Running with Scissors: Downright tedious.
Friday, August 3
The Holiday: I love Jack Black but his character in this film was just creepy and I couldn't figure out why Kate Winslet liked him. Speaking of which, I really love Kate Winslet; so why did they give all the screentime to Cameron Diaz? Such wasted potential here...
Saturday, July 28
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult: I was blown away by the writing in this book. The story is of a thirteen-year-old girl, Anna, who sues her parents for medical emancipation because she's tired of being a donor for her sister with leukemia. Anna was a designer baby, meaning she was created with her sister's needs in mind to help her in her fight against the cancer. Picoult really got into the complexities of the matter and while I didn't always buy the mother's character, I found the story incredibly riveting. I stayed up late way too many nights to finish this. The ending felt a little cheated to me (and I won't give that away here), but still, I would kill to write like she does.
Monday, July 23
Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan: I appreciated the insights into Indian culture in this coming-of-age story of a teen-aged girl who returns to India to spend the summer with family. The descriptions are beautiful and Maya, the protagonist, is immensely likable. However I felt a political subplot (about Tamil Tigers) felt forced and it detracted from the lyrical story.
Sunday, July 8
Madagascar: This was the guilt movie; the one we let Doodles rent after taking him to the ER instead of a carnival. It was cute, but definitely not one of my favorite animated flicks. I'm not ultimately sure what the message was supposed to be, other than "sushi is good," which is like, "Duh!"
Company by Max Barry: On the one hand, this book was utterly over the top and ridiculous. On the other hand, I couldn't put it down. Definitely some laugh-out-loud moments in this satire of the modern workplace, complete with its bizarre office politics and odd management styles that ring frighteningly true to anyone who's worked in corporate America (although Barry is Australian, so what does that tell you?). Fun, fun, fun!
Saturday, July 7
The 40-Year-Old Virgin: After loving Knocked Up so much, we simply had to see this right away. And it was good. But not nearly as good as Knocked Up. Would have probably liked it more if friends hadn't hyped it up so much (they thought this was the better of the two).
Friday, July 6
Knocked Up: It's probably just where we are in life, but Adam and I were dying in this one. (It could also be that it was our first night out in who knows how long. A movie! In the theaters! Together!) So, so, so funny. Maybe a tad on the long side, but so funny it was completely forgivable.
Thursday, June 28
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory: As with The Other Boleyn Girl, this book whisked me away to another time and place. But perhaps I read it too soon after the other book, as I found the historical mode tiresome after awhile. I was also bothered by the (very well historical fact--I don't know enough to even claim to have a hint of knowing) frailty of Queen Elizabeth. Everything I've seen and read till now had her as such a strong matriarch that is was unsettling to view her as such an uncertain young woman. But overall, the writing was as captivating as ever and a fun read.
Wednesday, June 20
A Model Summer by Paulina Porizkova: Depressing that someone with such a successful modeling career turns out to be a fine writer. Definitely cream of the crop in the "summer reading" genre, with solid writing, a likable character, and an ambiguous enough ending to keep me happy. Much better than the roman a clefs written by those who actually profess to have a writing background. Should be on the top of anyone's beach read list.Labels: Chick Lit/Flick, light reading
Tuesday, June 12
Jesus Camp: I a sucker for those documentaries, and this one was fascinating albeit horrifying, about the Evangelical Christians are indoctrinating their kids (although I'm sure you could substitue any religion in here). A couple of slow points when they were concentrating on the kids' pastor--the kids were the really interesting ones--but overall a solid documentary.Labels: documentary
Friday, June 8
Sunday, June 3
Wedding Season by Darcy Cosper: I hestitate to call this chick lit because of the wonderfully refreshing ending, but it may indeed fall into that category. I like the riffs on marriage, although at times, there was a bit of a "I get it already" feeling, but the characters are likable and sympathetic and it was a fun read.Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Monday, May 14
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris: I'm partial to office stories, but Ferris took it to the next level with this novel, cleverly told in the third person plural. An advertising agency is falling apart--folks getting laid off, people cracking up--and it's all oh-so-amusing.
Saturday, April 21
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Just the right speed (no pun intended) for where I am now. Really fun. Some nice quotable lines. Will Ferrell is hysterical. Perfect.
Saturday, April 14
Wednesday, April 11
The Lives of Others: What an astoundingly powerful film. Truly caught me up, and that's hard to do these days, given how tired I am. Didn't even notice it was subtitled, it was so compelling. Story of the Stasi in East Berlin with such a lovely bittersweet ending. Wish there were more films like this one.
Tuesday, March 6
Because She Can by Bridie Clark: Oh my! A book that makes The Devil Wears Prada look like literature! I wanted to read because of my own publishing background, but the book was so obvious from the get-go that it was rather painful to read. Skip this one.Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Sunday, March 4
Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel: I thought that this book about a young woman falling in love with an Israeli army interrogator was going to be dry, but it was anything but. Ravel interweaves pieces of the woman as an adult mom living in Canada with her youth in Israel falling in love. Ravel uses lots of interesting techniques, including looking at the meaning of Hebrew words in a way that really adds depth to the novel.Labels: Jewish
Sunday, February 18
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory: Totally got sucked into this story. Couldn't put it down! I wish I knew a little bit more of the history, because I understand this deviates quite a bit, but I kept going. Toward the end I thought it went on a bit much--after all, even if you don't know your history very well, we all know what happened to Anne Boleyn--but I found this an immensely satisfying read.
Wednesday, January 31
Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven by Susan Richards Shreve: Read for work.
Monday, January 15
The Devil Wears Prada: Exactly what I expected. Entertaining. Watered down from the book. Forgettable.Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Saturday, January 13
Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh: This was slow starting, but it quickly picks up steam. The story of a man as told by his three wives. The writing was strong when it described the women, but it never did a great job of showing why they were with this jerk, Kimble. But it was a compelling enough story to make me want to check out her other books.
Tuesday, January 9
When Do We Eat: A terribly disappointing film about a dysfunctional family Passover seder. Such great potential wasted!Labels: Jewish
Sunday, January 7
Art School Confidential: This was pretty amusing. Of course, coming from a home centered on art, some of the cliches really hit home. It was light and fun and worth watching.
Wednesday, January 3
Little Children by Tom Perrotta: This is what Music for Torching should have been! A funny, well-written, dead-on satire of life in the suburbs. I'm bumming they're going to make this a movie. It's too good for a movie!
Saturday, December 30
The Outside World by Tova Mirvis: This is the second book I've read by Mirvis, and she continues to impress me with her glimpses into the Orthodox Jewish world. Her stories are sympathetic yet they don't paint blindly pretty pictures. I looked forward to returning to Tzippy's world every night.Labels: Jewish
Sunday, December 24
Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant: I don't know much about the Renaissance period, so I have no idea if this book was historically correct, but the writing really swept me away to another time and place. The writing is beautiful and the story of a young woman , her fascination with art, and what comes to her in late 15th-century Florence is magical.
Saturday, December 23
Little Miss Sunshine: Really funny and I'm so happy they didn't sugarcoat the ending. Each character was so well drawn and Toni Collette, well, let's face it, I love Toni Collette no matter what she does but the fact is, she does it very well here.
Wednesday, December 20
The Milk Memos: How Real Moms Learned to Mix Business with Babies-and How You Can, Too by Cate Colburn-Smith and Andrea Serrette: Read for work.
Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Sunday, November 26
The Snake Charmer by Sanjay Nigam: I was disappointed when this book didn't grab me. The story is of a charmer who briefly finds fame after killing his snake. While I liked the way it evoked an India I'd not read about before, I just never really became engaged.
Saturday, November 25
Thank You for Smoking: Why aren't there more movies like this? It was hilarious and wonderful!! Yeah!
Friday, November 24
The Family Stone: As much as I love Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton, this movies was merely annoying. Yet another dysfunctional family without any real bite to it. Would have been soooo much better if they had ended it with the bus scene. Did they really need to hit us over the head with that final piece of triteness?Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Tuesday, November 14
Music for Torching by A.M. Homes: I've liked her short stories in the past, but I haven't been able to really get into her novels. It felt flat. I think because it was a satire on suburban life, but I couldn't relate to any of the characters--it felt forced, too over the top.
Tuesday, November 7
Marie Antoinette: Enjoyable but at times it felt like a music video gone awry. The cinematography was beautiful, but we could have been off with her head a full 45 minutes sooner.
Wednesday, November 1
The Three-Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting: A cute semi-parody of parenting books that was amusing except when it contradicted what I do.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Sunday, October 29
Preschool Confidential by Sandi Kahn Shelton: I hate to write in cliches, but I did, actually and truly, laugh out loud while I was reading this book. If you don't have a preschooler right now, pass this book by. But if you do, I say it again: I laughed--many times--out loud.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Sunday, October 22
The Queen: I'm no expert on British royalty, but I though Helen Mirren was superb. The Charles character was a little comical as was Philip, but Mirren was captivating and she really made the queen a sympathetic character.
Friday, October 20
Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground by Robert Eisenberg: An interesting glimpse into the Hasidic world, but they were a little too shallow. I wanted a more in-depth look, which you're really not going to get in a book of essays, so perhaps I was expecting too much. But it was well written and engaging.Labels: Jewish
Wednesday, October 18
The No-Cry Potty Training Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Child Say Good-Bye to Diapers by Elizabeth Pantley: Yes, I admit it, I bought it. Some good ideas. But the Doodles is still not potty trained. 'Nuff said.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Sunday, October 1
It's a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons by Andrea J. Buchanan: A light collection of essays--but too many seemed alike. Finishing it, nothing really stood out.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Sunday, September 24
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon: What an incredible story. It was especially powerful reading this after George and Sam, as G&S was a memoir about a mother who has two autistic sons, and Curious Incident was written from the point of view of a (high functioning) autistic teenager. I can't say if Haddon accurately portrayed the autistic mind set, but I will say that what I read felt real and believable. Definitely enjoyed this.
Friday, September 15
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella: Pure chick lit, but really fun chick lit. One of the best of the light genre.Labels: Chick Lit/Flick
Monday, September 11
Saturday, September 2
Entourage--The Complete Second Season--I love this show. And the second season didn't disappoint.
Wednesday, August 30
BreakupBabe: A Novel by Rebecca Agiewich: I took a class with the author in grad school, so it was a little hard to read this objectively, because I kept picturing Rebecca in the Rachel role (which isn't so far off, because the novel is a thinly veiled version of what happened, as she states in the introduction).
Thursday, August 24
Sunday, August 6
Imagine Me & You: Picked this up on a whim from the video store (yes, we finally admitted defeat with Netflix) even though there were a zillion movies on the shelves that both Adam and I had expressed interest in seeing. What a happy thing! A terribly cute movie that, while predictible, was funny, charming, and lovely. Bride meets a (female) florist on the day of her wedding and is struck by love at first site. If it had been made in the U.S., the husband would have been a cad, but the British production makes all the characters equally sympathetic.
Saturday, August 5
Good Night, and Good Luck: David Strathairn was excellent as Edward R. Murrow and even though everyone going in knows how the story unfolds (or at least, they should), the film is suspenseful. An excellent commentary on the (modern) state of journalism that makes you appreciate how important a free press is.
Wednesday, August 2
Scoop: I still heart Woody Allen. This was not his best, but it was still very cute. Now go read my interview with Woody Allen.
Tuesday, July 11
Keeping Up with the Steins: Cute. A little cliched. Warm fuzzies. I think you have to be Jewish to truly like it.Labels: Jewish
Saturday, July 8
Searching for Mary Poppins: Women Write About the Intense Relationship Between Mothers and Nannies edited by Susan Davis and Gina Hyams: Read for work.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Wednesday, June 28
Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes by Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown: Read for work, so I can't comment, but I will say, if you have a daughter, READ THIS!Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Wednesday, June 7
The Nimrod Flipout: Stories by Etgar Keret: This book of short-short stories by an Israeli author was supremely odd. Some of the stories were so fresh, I continued thinking about them long after I put the bood down. A few just flitted past (including the title piece). But the excellent pieces outweighed the silly, and anyone who likes short-shorts will find this collection intriguing.Labels: Jewish
Wednesday, May 31
Why She Went Home by Lucinda Rosenfeld: I thougt the short story that Rosenfeld originally published in the New Yorker was brilliant; I thought the novel it was excerpted from was good; and I think this sequel is just fine. Certainly a lot better than a lot of the other stuff I've read, but it doesn't live up to the previous pieces. The main character, Phoebe, doesn't hold up as well, and the relationship she ends up in seems vaguely off-putting. But the writing is still quite good and it's better than the average chick lit out there. Maybe that's it: the first novel was too good to be defined as chick lit. It was simply a great novel. This one did feel more like high-quality chick lit.
Wednesday, May 24
Havana Salsa: Stories and Recipes by Viviana Carballo: Read for work.
Wednesday, May 10
The Overachievers : The Secret Lives of Driven Kids by Alexandra Robbins: Read for work.Labels: parenting/mommy lit
Wednesday, May 3
Friends with Money: I feel rather ambivalent about this film: on one hand it was well acted and well written; on the other is was a depressing take on marriage and friendship. Definitely not uplifting but certainly thought-provoking.
Wednesday, April 26

The Shark God: Encounters with Ghosts and Ancestors in the South Pacific by Charles Montgomery: Read for work.
Wednesday, March 22
The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville: Your Must-Have Manual for Life with Baby by Paige Hobey and Allison, M.D. Nied: Read for work.
Sunday, March 5
Devil's Playground: An amazing documentary about Rumspringa, the time when an Amish child turns 16 and s/he is permitted to experience the "English" world. After this period of freedom, a child then chooses whether or not s/he will be baptized and join the Amish community. Really well done--I thought it was pretty balanced too although there were a few more kids featured who did not return. An excellent, excellent documentary that was captivating to watch. I wanted more!
Wednesday, February 15
Bowerman and the Men of Oregon : The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Co-founder by Kenny Moore: Read for work.
Wednesday, February 8
Brokeback Mountain: I'm not sure which I liked more, the movie (which was terrific although I thought they did a terrible job of aging the characters so it was hard to tell where we were chronologically) or the fact that I saw a movie IN A MOVIE THEATER while it was still relatively NEW!! Halleluah! Both are glorious. Simply glorious!
Sunday, February 5
The Aristocrats: At first I thought this documentary about the world's dirtiest joke was a one-note film, but it really picked up momentum and was quite funny. At one point, two comdedians tell this joke to their babies (probably both under seven months) and I was horrified, absolutely horrified that anyone would let their babies hear this kind of stuff and I said so to the other person in the room with until I, uh, realized that, uh, I was actually watching the movie with five-month-old Sweetie Pie, so, uh, well, never mind. But it's a good documentary. Keep watching till the very end credits.
Thursday, February 2
Bride and Prejudice: A Bollywood-style remake of Pride and Prejudice, this film is really fun. Colorful, musical, and with terrific Indian actresses (the American actors weren't quite up with the overseas cast) made this a really fun film. The musical numbers were definite highlights.
Monday, January 30
Must Love Dogs: I expected a little better given how much I love John Cusack (and I'm a Diane Lane fan, too), but it really was a nice, frothy little romance. Not much to say but "cute."
Sunday, January 29
The Wedding Crashers: I think this movie was quite funny. I'm pretty sure it was. It was a little hard to tell over Sweetie Pie's screams, but I did catch some very funny moments in there.
Wednesday, January 25
Shooting Water: A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking by Devyani Saltzman: Read for work.
Monday, January 9
Fever Pitch: For the record, Adam didn't want to watch this, but I insisted. Hey, who knew? Adam was right. The acting was atrocious! I saw the original and actually thought it was quite good (how could I possibly not like something with Colin Firth in it? Don't be put off by the originally tacky cover); this did not live up to that in anyway shape or form. Both actors came off stilted. Definitely pass on this and see the original.
Thursday, January 5
Raising Helen: I watched this on one of those nasty days when it was too cold to take Sweetie Pie out. It seemed very long to me. I don't think it was that long. It was cute. That's about all there is to say about it.
Wednesday, January 4
The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvis: A beautifully told story about an outsider who comes into the Orthodox Jewish community in Memphis. Told interestingly enough from the first person plural point of view, but it works. It's so nice to read a story with strong female characters that doesn't center around romance.
