I've been picking them well, lately

Sometimes you see a movie that completely and totally enthralls you. For both my husband and me, this movie was Juno. I mean, how could you not love this movie? All the actors were fabulous. I loved Allison Janney and her outburst when the ultrasound technician is condescending. I love JK Simmons when he says he wants to punch Bleeker in the nuts and then decides against it because he knows Bleeker and he knows his daughter – it must’ve been June Bug’s idea. I loved Jennifer Garner and even her husband. Juno was a fabulous movie, a total delight. If you haven’t seen this movie, please, please, go ahead and see it.

Since we'd done so well with Juno, I went ahead and rented The Jane Austen Book Club. I really liked the book and I am an Austen fan - so I had to watch the movie. I loved the movie and I am really annoyed that it didn't do well. It was such a fabulous movie with such wonderful actors. I then read Persuasion, saw Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley, and saw the BBC adaptation of Northanger Abbey.

And then since we had winter break and the kids spent some days with their grandparents, my husband and I went and saw Michael Clayton and National Treasure, both wonderful movies - and as intense as George Clooney was, Nic Cage made me laugh a lot more.

With this endless winter in Denmark (it's been going on a year now since we skipped spring, summer, and fall in 2007) I have been hibernating - not reading that much, not watching movies, just becoming one with the couch. Now, however, I feel that the thaw has set in.

And just to make things better I just received Beautiful Children by Charles Bock - a much-hyped book that I'm looking forward to read. There's been talk about this book everywhere, Gawker.com. PW, NYTB, you name it - so I am curious if it lives up to the hype (word of caution: no book can live up to the hype; that's the problem with hype). If you've read Beautiful Children; do let me know what you think. I won't let your opinion color my judgment but it will be nice to know that others feel like I feel as I read the book.

Yummm, I can just taste the hype as I open the first page and sniff the glue...