Reading: One of the books I read on vacation was In The Woods. I have mixed feelings about the book. At first, it was a great mystery/suspense novel that suckered me in right away, mixing a present-day murder with a 25-year-old tragedy. I liked the way the narrative switched between the two, interspersing the current investigation with flashbacks and glimpses into the past. The author, Tana French, is very good at character development. I liked most of the characters, even with their flaws; I cared about what happened to them. As the story progressed, I became more engrossed instead of becoming bored and skimming as I think repeatedly, "Oh, get to the point already!" - that happens to me sometimes.

But with the ending, she completely lost me. I didn't buy the motive (motives) at all, just seemed way too lame. It also struck a bit of a wrong chord to have several characters, flaws and hubris notwithstanding, do such incredibly stupid things. I am not one who has to have every loose end and odd comment explained, tied up in a tidy little package, but I was extremely dissatisfied that only one of the two major mysteries comprising the novel was explained. At the risk of being too cryptic, there is some buzz on the internet that the other mystery was solved, if one puts enough hints together and, while I see where they're coming from, I don't buy it. No motive for the main thing, and a couple of other reasons.

I was entertained and quite interested while reading, but the ending was dissatisfying enough that I can't really recommend it either.

Watching: On Friday we went to see 9. Maybe it's a pattern with me, but while captivated and entertained enough during, I felt kind of "meh" afterward. Certainly I wasn't wild to see it again and again like Coraline or Star Trek - but it wasn't like I left the theatre grumpily contemplating the 79 minutes of my life I was never getting back, either. It is certainly worth seeing in the theatre for the visual spectacle alone - incredible CGI. The little burlap dolls were wonderfully quirky and the post-apocalyptic world was fabulous. But I never 'got' why I was supposed to care about any of them, or why it mattered if this one died and that one lived; the characters weren't developed enough for me to have any real sympathy or emotion. The film got pretty metaphysical at the end, which could be either good or bad depending on one's point of view. If you want to be blown away by phenomenal visual effects, definitely see it in the theatre.