TRH Reading Catch Up -- The Movie Tie-In Edition

So, I've read a number of books since I've been, well, unblogging, if we can call it that. Two weeks in the hospital and a number of weeks of recovery still to come means I'll probably read a pile more before I head back to work at the end of the month. I'm going to start with three books I finished up in July, before my appendix met its untimely demise:

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#38): The folks at work could not believe that I had never read the Harry Potter series. I've always enjoyed the films, and the one based upon this book still remains my favourite, but figured I'd get around to the books at some point. I read it in one sitting. There's so much more to the books and there's a real sense of wonderment that gets kind of lost in the Hollywood versions.

2. The Strain (#39): While technically not a movie tie-in (yet; I can't see Guillermo del Toro not making a movie from these books), the novel is truly cinematic, both in its dialogue and its plotting. The story follows a scientist/doctor (can't remember if he's either or both), Ephraim Goodweather, as he tries to uncover the truth behind a number of mysterious occurances through his work with the Centre for Disease Control. When a plane touches down at JFK with a cabin full of very dead people and little explaination beyond a very strange coffin-like container on board that may have something to do with their deaths, Eph and his co-workers have quite the mystery on their hands. Creatures start to take over Manhattan (um, the body bags tend to do strange things when left in the fridge and that's all I'm going to say about that terrifying moment in this book) and Eph has to convince the world that there's a serious medical crisis, an infection, that's spreading across the island. Will people believe him? I guess we'll have to wait until the next book to find out for sure. It's an entertaining novel, and not my typical fare, but it truly creeped me out in places, which was fun for summer reading.

3. Julie and Julia (#40): Now this book I loved. As Stuff White People Like says, us whiteys like to read the book before we see the movie. So, when I was shopping for a 70th birthday book for my aunt in June, I picked up Julie and Julia on a whim because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the movie. Oddly enough, this was my favourite of my three "movie" books. It's charming, delightful, well-written, entertaining and utterly engaging. Yes, she swears a lot. But it's kind of funny once you get used to it. And I loved the concept of the book and the blog; there's just something so interesting about self-met challenges. On the whole, I hope the movie is half as good as the book so I enjoy it too.

Okay, that's it for today.