I had heard a lot of hype about "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, so I thought, surely this book can’t live up to it.  However, it was unlike any other book I had ever read.  This is the story of a middle aged man named Charlie who has an IQ of 68, & through an operation, achieves a level of genius. Even though my copy was in a tiny six font that had me wondering if I need to get reading glasses even though I’m in twenties, I kept reading. I can’t imagine how anyone conceived this idea, but I think it’s something society really needs, about what makes a good person, & a good friend. Loved it, any thoughts about this book?

After the end of "Gilmore Girls" I’m left thinking now what?  I’m pretty selective about TV viewing, but some of my guilty pleasures include:

Iron Chef

Project Runway

Ace of Cakes

The Riches

The Office

I think that’s some of the best television right there.  It just doesn’t inspire me though.  I don’t watch it & think, "I’m going to become a gypsy", or "I’m going to go in the kitchen & try to cook really really fast & have Mo Rocca mock me".  I know I’ll probably never be able to fill the shoes of "Gilmore Girls", I don’t want to even try.  It’s like going out & buying a new puppy when the dog dies.  I just wish there was something else that inspired me, TV wise, but that’s asking a lot.  "Gilmore Girls" was one of kind, it was the first show that made me really want to change, & maybe it’s the last.  This is why we have DVD’s

In general if you asked me "Do you want to read a book about a teenager’s grisly murder & how her family deals with it?", I would say no.  That’s why Rory’s book club has been so good for me.  I pick up books that I wouldn’t read otherwise, such as "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold.  This book has interesting perspectives on family, love, & heaven in a way that I have never though of heaven before.  I think Alice Sebold is brilliant & has such a way with words.  Granted, the book deals with some tough issues & even had me thinking "Ah, that’s why my parents are still so overprotective of me even though I think I’m a grown up". I usually know how many pages I have read of a book, but this one just flew by, I was left thinking "Is it really over?". I give it 4.5 toaster pastries, it would have been 5, but it scared me just a little.

When the Gilmores all sat down to watch the "Pursuit of Happyness" together I was a little confused.  It just didn’t seem like a Gilmore movie to me, not a whole lot to make fun of.  I guess I always think of the girls as watching obscure movies from twenty years ago, or really just plain stupid movies. It seemed more like product placement. However, Will Smith is a handsome, handsome man. What I really liked about this movie was that there wasn’t a real love interest, it was about a father & son, kind of like how Gilmore Girls really isn’t about Luke & Logan, (Well at least it shouldn’t be). There wasn’t really a villain in this movie, it was just like life, sometimes life is just hard.  So although I don’t think it belongs with the other Gilmore movies, it still gets 4 toaster pastries.