For a long time, I've been taking notes on particularly great stories and books I've read, planning to slip them into journal entries. Of course, I've never remembered...or, when I have remembered, they haven't seemed to fit the themes of the entries...so, naturally, I've forgotten most of them by now! But just for the heck of it, here are the books, stories and movies I've loved in the past month or so:

-Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke. A complex, intelligent AND fun kids' fantasy about the power of books.
-Troll Fell, by Katherine Langrish. Another great kids' fantasy adventure, this one set in Scandinavia in---? Maybe around 800 AD or so?
-"The Fate of Mice", a short story by Susan Palwick in the January issue of Asimov's magazine. This was funny and sad and scary, and I loved it.
-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I was really skeptical about this movie before seeing it, thinking it might be too surreal or dry or (admit it) just too much like a normal Jim Carrey film (the kind I hate). Turns out, though, I loved this movie. It was intense and emotional AND funny, and you can't beat that as a combination. Plus, Kate Winslett is just an amazing actress.

I'm sure there used to be more on my list, but then again, that's why I'm finally typing it all in--because my memory is like a sieve. And one final link, to an excerpt from Pam Houston's essay "Ten Things My Dog Taught Me That Made it Possible for Me to Get Married," published in the anthology Dog is my Copilot: Great Writers on the World's Oldest Friendship from the Editors of The Bark. Great excerpt, funny essay, and now (of course) I want to get the book!