Reading Meme!
These are the top 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users (as of today). As usual, bold what you have read, italicise what you started but couldn’t finish, and strike through what you couldn’t stand. The numbers after each one are the number of LT users who used the tag of that book.
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truepenny) via 
exceptinsects
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Reading reviews (much less spoilers) affects the movie-going experience. When I was a teenager, I saw a comedy suggested by a friend. All I knew about it is that it was a comedy. Hadn’t read a review, no ads or posters had made any impression. I really enjoyed this movie; it made me laugh and feel giddy and full of joy. It was Splash. Part of my enjoyment was realizing that I had no expectations for the film.
And yet. I love reading movie reviews. For films that I am really excited about, I will attempt to avoid reading them until I’ve seen the movie. They seem to give away so much plot! (At least more plot than can be given away in the trailers, another way to ruin a movie. Arlington Road is a prime example.) After seeing Pulp Fiction, I read 3 different reviews that tried hard to not spill many of the plot twists. However, each of them spilled a different twist, each from a different section. Oops. And when there is a twist ending, they will tell the readers that it exists. Dear reviewers, please don’t. I’m going to spend the movie anticipating the ending. Though appropriate for mysteries, it can be annoying for comedies. Or I won’t even see the movie. After hearing the plot set-up of The Sixth Sense and finding out that there was a big twist at the end, I deduced that either Bruce Willis or the kid was a ghost.
NB: I am not totally against spoilers. In fact, here is a recent defense of spoilers. It makes some good points. Myself, I try to savor the mysteries of the unknown in order to restrain my inner uberfangirl tendencies.
Despite being disgruntled, I still read the reviews. My favorite type of review is when the piece is better than the actual film. Here are a few examples:
Posted in Second Chance Cinema
I have finally decided on a name for the new kitten: Beatrice.
Luckily, she and LilyRocket are getting along very well; I even caught them snuggling on Sunday. They’d only met each other scarcely a week earlier! It helps that LR is still kitten-ish. Both cats share similar interests – they like to eat each other’s food and both love paper bags. I do hope that Beatrice will not acquire LilyRocket’s dangerous addiction to plastic.
LilyRocket’s favorite hiding place is inside a cardboard box. There are several empty boxes strewn about the house. One of her favorites is one filled with blue paper from the fluff and fold launrdromat. Recently, I transferred a stash of grocery bags into another box, and LilyRocket has found a new heaven. Maybe I’ll submit it to catinabox. I wonder if there is a site devoted to cats in wicker baskets, the traditional bed of Cleary cats.
Yes, I finally quenched my kitten lust and got a new cat. Haven’t decided on a name yet, so you can help me decide. Right now I’m calling her Moonshadow,. She’s about 6 weeks old with a white milky coat. I got her from the girlfriend of one of my students; yes, she’s very young, but the girlfriend is moving (and has assured me that that mama cat will be fixed this summer.)
Alas, my apartment is not set up well for separating cats. So far, LilyRocket has been fascinated to bored with the new cat. The only blood shed is mine from the sharp little kitten claws. I hope that they will become friends very quickly.
Here are some pictures from my iPhone; the quality isn’t that great.
Posted in Announcements, Cats
