Shopgirl by Steve Martin

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
From the comic genius of Steve Martin comes a contemporary fable of life an love from the point of view of a shopgirl behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus. Mirabelle, a semi-glamorous young woman who is making her way through the romantic jungles of Beverly Hills/Los Angeles, is an aspiring artist who prides herself on her clothing aesthetic. Unfortunately, she doesn't always have the best taste in men. When she meets a young Turk named Jeremy, whose idea of a great second date is a visit to the Laundromat, she sees him through a haze of Prozac and other anti-depressants, and through the prism of her own poor self-esteem. But then she meets Ray Porter and thinks he could be her Knight in Shining Armor. In fact, he does turn out to be a worldly, rich gentleman who is a kindly and even exciting lover, but he never really takes Mirabelle seriously. Together, Mirabelle, Ray, Jeremy, and a few other supporting characters populate this insightful piece that is sometimes quirky, sometimes comic, and sometimes languid as a summer day.

My thoughts:
Shopgirl is an amusing character study. Mirabelle, a 28 year old, is kind of stuck in a post-college pre-career limbo. She gets involved with two different men; Ray Porter, a millionaire in his 50's and Jeremy, a 20 something who still acts like a teenager. Each of these men have faults as well as redeeming qualities. Mirabelle gets her heart broken but in the end, she finds happiness. Shopgirl has truly hilarious episodes. It has a more somber side though when we see the effects of giving yourself totally to someone only to have them take a tiny piece of you. I really like these characters, they are quite quirky. Overall, Shopgirl is an entertaining novella but I enjoyed the movie more.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
His Dark Materials, a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman, comprises Northern Lights (1995 — released as The Golden Compass in North America), The Subtle Knife (1997) and The Amber Spyglass (2000). The trilogy follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes against a backdrop of epic events. The story involves fantasy elements such as witches and armored polar bears, but alludes to a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics, philosophy, and theology. Pullman has published further a related short story, "Lyra and the Birds", which appears with accompanying illustrations in the small hardcover book Lyra's Oxford.

Pullman's publishers have primarily marketed the series to young adults, but Pullman also intended to speak to adults. The books have also appeared as a single-volume omnibus in the United Kingdom and in North America, titled His Dark Materials (2007).

My thoughts:
His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantastic fantasy! The story follows Lyra as she travels through different parallel universes. She sees many different places and meets a variety of different characters from armored bears to witches to miniature people. Lyra is on a quest throughout the whole book. Her quest changes from time to time but right from the beginning it is clear that she has a very important mission to carry out. She herself does not know the part she will play in changing not only her own world but every world. The book is so epic in length and depth that when I got to the end, I was not ready to let go of these characters. If you want to lose yourself in a different world and meet fantastic, highly original characters then this is the book for you.