This is the story of the 1996 fire that destroyed Venice’s Fenice Theatre. The draw for this book is the glimpse into the history and culture of Venice. Italy is so rich in art, from the Opera to the architecture. I’m fascinated by the mystery of Carnival and masquerade balls and the romance of a city traversed by canals. There’s something so haunting about the loss of the theatre and the risk that faces so many other historical buildings and artifacts in Venice because they are not properly preserved.

There was nothing about this movie that was surprising or new. It was just the same weak gags from every recent comedy movie performed by women instead of men with a little bit of chick-flick drama thrown in. Mostly I just felt uncomfortable watching Wiig's character make life hard for herself in completely unbelievable ways. I will say that Wiig has never looked better, but that really isn't enough to save the movie.

I found the British female accent assumed by Kevin Free when impersonating Sadie to be implausible and irritating, so I'd stick to the book and skip the audio version.

The name of the 3rd book in this series is Mockingjay

Never let me go is mysterious and beautiful. It's a science fiction story in which you don't see anything futuristic or fantastic.The setting is familiar and sweet: an English boarding school and the English countryside, but the story is a jarring contrast: it feels very genuine. Everyone speaks and dresses in a very Old British way, and yet the story has the minimalist feeling of Japanese art. I'm not usually a fan of dystopia fiction, but I was drawn to this film. It's not a story of how the world gets twisted, instead it's the personal story of Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy growing up in the world which they have been born into.