Have fun storming the castle!

At the end of July Mr. Thel and I packed our bags and headed south for a week of sunshine in Oregon. We spent a few days with my family, being lavishly feted and feasted as is right and proper, and then camped up a river that rhymes with "Humpqua," famed for its fly fishing and scenery.

THe day before we left I had stopped by the Ravenna Third Place Books to pick up the final Harry Potter installment. I've never been one to snatch up any of the HP books on the day of their release, hopping impatiently from one foot to the other outside a bookstore at midnight; I didn't read the first one until years after its release. But I figured I'd better read this one more quickly, before having the ending spoiled for me.

I browsed around the bookstore while I was there, and a used copy of Stardust, by Neil Gaiman, intrigued me enough to add it to the total. When you're already spending $35 on one book, what's another $6.50? I figured I'd have plenty of reading to keep me busy throughout our vacation.

Naturally I instead devoured the Harry Potter finale (verdict: good, not great. The epilogue, in particular, got on my nerves. At least I was right about a few conjectures.) by the end of Tuesday...so I picked up Stardust. I lingered over it longer, but I adored it completely. Gorgeously written, beautifully described and plotted--really, contrasting Stardust with Harry Potter felt like eating at Burger King one night and then having an expensive steak the next night. Except for the fact that that would be way too much beef in a short time period. But, you know--it was incomparable and lovely. I came home and was gobsmacked to see that it's been made into a movie which is coming out on Friday. Serendipitous! You can bet your boots that I'll be seeing it. It's being compared to Princess Bride, so come on. You know you want to see it, too.