THE BEST OF 2011

PERSONAL NEWS

So, in the picture above, you see my calm, serene smile while my friend Emi looks terrified at something facing us. After this photo, Emi mysteriously disappeared and her rich uncle searched for her for 40 years, convinced that her killer was sending him a dried flower each year...

Oops, wrong story, but the expression on Emi's face really does make me think of something out of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Thankfully, Emi is just fine, and she's now one of my roommates! It's been an eventful year. Some events better than others. But all in all, I feel I've come out on top, and I'm looking forward to 2012. I'm dating a wonderful man, met some great friends, and while my job situation still isn't perfect, it's certainly improved from the beginning of the year when I was an unpaid volunteer. Now I am both a paid shelver and an on-call Library Technician--which means I will actually get to work on the reference desk. Oh, and the Mayan Apocalypse this year should be epic. I hope there'll be fireworks.

I apologize that my New Years post is much later this year than it has been all the other years. But as you can see from the picture below, I was at a very serious fancy dress party on New Years. You can tell just how serious by the Settlers of Catan game. I won by default of having the most points (8 points!) when everyone lost interest in the game and went to eat alcoholic gummi bears. Since I don't drink or partake of alcohol even in gummi form, this was not the highlight of my evening.



But the best part for me came soon after when my boyfriend and I shared my first New Years kiss ever. Yes, the world has always conspired against me to leave me with no one to kiss on New Years. Until NOW! Yay for 2012!

Okay, onto the films and books I liked this year.

FILMS OF 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

I reviewed part 2 here. But looking back on my review, it's a bit short. This is probably mostly laziness but possibly because I had many of the same impressions of it as I did of part 1, which I reviewed here.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I actually didn't see this until a few days ago, so I didn't see it in 2011, but it was made then, so I'm going to count it. I was very concerned that it would be terrible. I already liked the Swedish film so much, that I couldn't see too many places where they could improve it and far too many places where they could make it worse. Luckily, the casting, which was one of my major concerns, was excellent. I even think that Daniel Craig vaguely resembles the Swedish man they got to play Blomkvist and Rooney Mara gave a great performance as Salander. I won't give serious spoilers here unless you think this is a super happy book where no one gets hurt. Basically, I thought one of the bad guys was a little too obviously creepy. The second I looked into his eyes, I was creeped out by him. I certainly hope it was just good acting.

However, the bad guy who attacks Salander didn't seem bad enough. Even when he was doing all those truly revolting things, I hated the character, but the actor I would believe is a nice man with a wife, three kids, and a puppy at home! Still, that didn't ruin the intensity of the scene, so that's fine.

I also thought it was more obvious what happens to Salander and the money at the end of the American film than at the end of the Swedish film. And I liked that the US version was true to the ending of the book. I heard a rumor that they're doing the second book and I very much look forward to seeing that as well.

Last but not least, I loved The Green Hornet. I can't say it's on par with Harry Potter or Dragon Tattoo, but it is a film I remember fondly. Mostly because of Kato.

BOOKS OF 2011

The Red Queen

You can read the review I wrote of this book by clicking here. As one of two books I read that was published in 2011, it wasn't too hard a decision. Scarlett Fever, the other book published this year that I finished, was lots of fun, as well. I also reviewed it here. It just lacked the gravitas of the Red Queen.

The Red Queen would still be a great book no matter how many other books I read published this year. Although, I suspect Terry Pratchett's Snuff, Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune, Tamora Pierce's Mastiff, and Hilari Bell's Goblin War will probably be better, I have to confess I haven't finished reading them yet. I got a bit too overloaded with awesome books. Not a bad thing, but since I'm already in three book clubs, and I take less public transit than I used to, that cuts out more of my reading time. I haven't been getting to as many of the books as I usually would.

I have, however, still been reading this year. Three of my favorite books that weren't published this year are all non-fiction books. They are: Factory Girls by Lisa T. Chang, Escape by Carolyn Jessop, and the Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose. This is very unusual for me because I usually have trouble finishing a non-fiction book, much less enjoying it. I think I was able to get into these books because they were all narratives so it was like reading fiction, except it was true.