Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese

For those with an interest in Ethiopia, this book is a great introduction.  It tells the story of two twins born and who reside on the grounds of an Ethiopian hospital.  They will both grow to be medical professionals (and are born to medical professionals), and so much of this book is viewed through a health lens.  However, it also touches on the culture of Ethiopia--from the food to its rich history.  The characters are all quite compelling and the portrayal of the twins' differences is fascinating.  After loving Galore, I felt lucky to pick up another enjoyable book so soon.

Galore - Michael Crummey

I take a great deal of time choosing the ideal holiday book and this must be one of the bests EVER.  I loved the story of this small Newfoundland community, with all its quirks.  It was really interesting to follow the generations through time.  And one of my favorite parts was when a doctor from the outside joined the community and was able to talk about them (at first) as a scientific observer.  He noted all of the genetic defects that resulted from the in-breeding that had gone on.  The characters were all sharply written and distinct.  There was a woman who had all her teeth pulled to keep the males at bay, a seeming narcoleptic, and a man who emerged from the belly of a whale.  I can't recommend this book enough...you will find yourself submerged in this sea community until you're done.  And even then, bringing yourself above water will be difficult.  This community is still with me, two months on...

Midnight In Paris

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I actually enjoyed a Woody Allen movie! I know! I can't believe it either!

A couple months ago, Kristie and her book club read the book The Paris Wife by Paula McCain.  Some of the others in the book club started talking about the movie Midnight in Paris that was coming out in the near future.  As it turned out, when the time arrived, only one person from the book club wanted to go, so they decided to drag the husbands along.  I've got to say, that I went in there pretty much kicking and screaming, but as it turned out, I found it pretty good on the whole.

Without too many spoilers, the story is about Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams) who are on a vacation in Paris when they bump into a couple friends of Inez: Carol (Nina Arianda) and Paul (Michael Sheen).  Paul is an old professor of Inez that she use to have a crush on, and is, not to put too fine a point on it, a total prat! And Sheen plays the part really well.

Anyway, as the film goes on, in order to avoid mingling with Paul and Carol, Gil decides to take a walk around the city of Paris, a city that he adores and pines for whenever he is away.  On that night, at the stroke of midnight, Gil is inexplicably transported back in time to Paris of the 20s where he meets many of his idols: Hemingway, Picaso, Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a host of others.  While on many of his blasts to the past, he begins to fall in love with  Adriana, (Marion Cotillard) a muse of Picaso, Hemingway, et al.  Without giving away the ending, lets just say, I like how it ended.

Like most Woody Allen movies, I had two issues with this one.  The first was the pairing of two people who's characters couldn't have lasted for five minutes together, much less long enough to be engaged.  The second was how Woody Allen does dialogue. Virtually all Allen movies have people stepping over each other's lines as they have pseudo-intellectual conversations about nothing in general, and the actor's seem to be encouraged to speak as if they every thought in their head has to exit through their mouth at the exact same moment.  There never seems to be any coherent thoughts that spew out of their mouths.

Despite these two flaws, like I've said a couple times, the movie is actually pretty good, and I'd recommend going to see it.

I give it 3/5 stars.