Still More NNIP

I'm not yet done posting about Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist! I read this interesting post on Feministing about it. A lot (or maybe even all) of the issues Samhita raises are not issues in the book and are due to either changes made to the plot or due to the visual aspect of the movie. It highlights for me how different the experience of reading is compared to watching a movie and how there are different issues involved in each. And the nerdy aspect to Nick really wasn't there in the book. Sure, he wasn't the popular hearthrob type, but he was much hipper in the book.

Can I also say how much I agree that the gum thing was totally lame, gross, and unneeded? Yeck.

National Book Award

Just wanted to say that I'm crossing my fingers for The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart to win the National Book Award for Young People's Literature since I loved it so much. I know it'll end up on the Amelia Bloomer List too.

Little Brother

I picked up Little Brother by Cory Doctorow at the library today. I started reading it as soon as I arrived home and did not put it down until I finished. Honestly, it is the most fascinating book I have read in a long time. It is like a modern day Nineteen Eighty-Four. The setting is San Francisco, right after a terrorist attack on the Bay Bridge. Much of the book deals with security measures, hacking, and high tech computer lingo, but you don't have to be a techie to get it. Overall, it was the message of the story that I really loved. I think Andre "bunnie" Huang explains it best in the Afterword, "Little Brother is a reminder that no matter how predictable the future may be, we don't win freedom through security systems, cryptography, interrogations and spot searches. We win freedom by having the courage and conviction to live every day freely and to act as a free society, no matter how great the threats are on the horizon."

Can anyone explain this?

I have seen Wicked 2 by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie at Barnes & Noble for months now. I've been trying to order it from Follett, but they say it isn't out yet. I think that can't be because I've seen it in the store (and now I have even purchased two copies; they're in my library right now). I went on Amazon, and it too says that this book won't be released until January. Teens Read Too has it listed as coming out in January. Does Barnes & Noble have some exclusive contract for this book?

Nick & Norah's Movie

I saw Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist last night and I really liked it. I don't know if I would have cared about or liked the characters as much if I hadn't read the book, but I have no way of knowing since I did read it. I was worried that I wouldn't like Michael Cera as Nick, even though I like MC very much. It was actually just what I thought: he was great and I liked him, but the character of Nick was more like MC's character in Juno than the Nick from the book. So even though it didn't totally follow the book, it was still really good and enjoyable. One of the things I liked in the book was the hot makeout scene in the hotel, which was substantially changed in the movie (I won't spoil it for anyone here). However, I liked what they did with it, and they made it very sweet and appropriate (but not too watered-down!). Now I am wanting to re-read the book, and one of the reasons is to go back and see if Nora was as sexually inexperienced and repressed as she was portrayed in the movie. But my review is an enthusiastic thumbs up!

Oh, and I don't remember where I read about it, but I knew that Cohn and Levithan were in the movie as extras in the background at the diner. Look for them!


In really cool news for me, I got the manager of the local theatre to give me a movie poster for my library. The poster he gave me (pictured below) is 4'x6'. It's taller than I am! At first I thought that was really cool, but now I'm kind of wishing I'd held out for a more regular size poster so I could frame it. I'm not even sure if this can be laminated. Still really cool, though.

Nick & Norah

You must know that I am super excited for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist this Friday. I saw an ad in my newspaper today for free passes to a preview screening on Monday night, but I missed the time when they were being given away. Here is a Salon interview with director Peter Sollett in which he talks about, among other things, the soundtrack for the movie. Can not wait! I thought it was interesting that he cast Michael Cera before Superbad and Juno. Although I love MC, I still don't know that I see him as Nick.

The Otherworldlies

Thanks to Hurricane Ike, I had plenty of spare time to catch up on my reading. One book I especially enjoyed was The Otherworldlies by Jennifer Kogler. The Otherworldlies is about a teen girl who just doesn't fit in with her family or her friends. Weird things are always happening to her. She hears voices, she can predict the weather accurately, and she can even talk to her dog. Although this book was a little slow getting started, I enjoyed the plot. Much like Twilight, this book is a vampire read without being too vampire-y, if that makes any sense. There isn't any romance, but there is a lot of suspense and action. I think this book will really appeal to the younger teen readers who are Stephenie Meyer fans.