Aaron Sorkin: Sound familiar?

I have been a fan of Aaron Sorkin's since Jack Nicholson spat across the big screen at me that I couldn't handle the truth and I was positively hooked after my first viewing of The American President.  The snappy, rapid fire dialogue we've come to know as Sorkin's signature, the witty repartee between characters is certainly why I enjoy his work.  I followed him from Sports Night to West Wing and everything afterward (yes, even Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). 

I have not watched his latest tv series, The Newsroom, as I don't get the particular channel it airs on, so it was with great amusement that a friend sent me this youtube clip:



Aside from the obvious fact that someone has too much time on their hands, it makes me think that next time I need my Sorkin fix, I think I'll just go back and watch an old episode of Sports Night or West Wing... the song remains the same, no? 

Review: The Rise of Nine

Hmmm- well, first things first, I did like The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore- mostly.

It was what I expected- action, adventure, and in some small ways it moved part of the story, previously told in the Lorien Legacies along but ultimately, it didn't.  I was really loving the book until it ended.  And I mean, it just ended.  To the point where I was turning the page wondering if I had missed something.  Like many series these days I found myself thinking, if "Pittacus Lore" had just written another 100 or so pages and finished the story, it would have been grand. 

I wonder why authors are so afraid to tell a complete story these days?  Are they afraid our attention span can't handle a full tale or a large book?  No- it's greed I think.  More books equal more money and I'm getting quite sick of it.  But I guess that's a rant for another day. 

Anyway, the story itself, as I said before moves along quickly.  The most annoying aspect is the narration jumping between multiple characters- Four, Six, and Seven.  I found this particularly irksome when more than one of them was in the same place together and it often took me several paragraphs to figure out who was speaking as they described what was going on- only when a character spoke about one of the other characters did I figure out which of them was narrating- their voices aren't differentiated enough, unfortunately.  This could have been solved so easily by just putting the character's name at the top of the chapter as so many other authors who alternate point of view often do.  This particular distraction had me often going back to re-read the beginnings of chapters to figure out what, exactly was going on. 

As for the title, The Rise of Nine- I didn't really get it.  Nine was a fun and interested character, but I think a better title would have been, "They Gather" since that's pretty much what happens- it was set up in the previous book as the Garde started to find one another and predictably continues in this book.  Unfortunately it doesn't continue toward any sort of conclusions. 

I will continue with the series, because it's fun to read and I enjoy the action, but if there's no forward motion in the next one, it may lose me. 

Review: Brava, Valentine

I had enjoyed the first book in this series, Very Valentine & was looking forward to this second one in the series (why is it so difficult to find stand-along books these days?).

The characters are still enjoyable (though whinier than I remember) & Trigiani still has a wonderfully descriptive voice- sometimes, a little too much. She can go on & on sometimes, long after my attention span has fizzled out.

Over all, a good sequel though it ends rather abruptly. This book, like it's predecessor is at its best when the entire Angelini/Roncalli clan is together in action- Valentine may be the center of the story, but they are the heart of it.