Mirkwood Reflections

Reviewed Vickie Farris's A Mom Just Like You on my homeschooling blog. Go HERE to read it.

Most thirtysomethings grew up watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) starring Gene Wilder every year on TV. Yes, that was back when there were no DVD players and no VCR's. We actually had to plan our lives around the TV shows we wanted to watch. But, I digress. Of course, the Willy Wonka movie was based upon a book by Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , written in 1964. The book has turned out to be a classic, beloved by children (and adults) everywhere. The Gene Wilder movie took a great deal of liberty with the book, however. I suppose, with the plethora of remakes of shows from the 60's and 70's, it was inevitable that someone would decide to try his hand at reworking the Willy Wonka story. Tim Burton was an obvious choice, with his love for the slightly (ok, MORE than slightly) unconventional storyline. Burton has a coterie of actors that he seems to rely on, and many of these show up in Charlie . You'd have to live under a rock not to r

While camping I read 3-1/2 novels. Finished the 4th one when I came home. Here they are, in the order I read them, and incidentally also from worst to best. The Cure - David Shobin - Dr realizes drug is causing terrible side effects This predictable book was not nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. Far better examples of the medical mystery genre (best exemplified by Robin Cook) are easily found. The characters were not believable and the plot itself was quite far fetched. However, I did enjoy reading it, probably mostly because I actually got to "Read A Book" for the first time in ages! Summer Island - Kristin Hannah - Famous mom's relationship with her daughters My next choice was Summer Island. About 70 pages in, I realized I had read the book before. I imagine that it was possibly a Reader's Digest Condensed Book, which I read a lot of a few years back. This one made me cry a lot, but some of the underlying themes made me wary. (Example: H