The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

The Talented Mr Ripley by Phyllis Nagy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Normally, I try to read the novel before seeing the movie. However, it was the movie that encouraged me to read this book. I thought the movie was interesting and it made me want to delve deeper into Tom's story. Particularly, I was curious about some of the relationships between characters and aspects of Tom's personality. Well, the book is actually quite different from the movie. Some parts are dead on and exactly how they read while others weren't even close. So, would I rate the movie or the book higher? I'm not sure. They are more different than I expected and it's hard to compare them. In fact, I don't want to compare them. If you like the book, the movie might confuse you and vice versa. However, this is one time I am glad I watched the movie before reading the book. I think if I'd read it first, I would have been a bit disappointed with the changes.

Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton

Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Romance isn't my favorite genre, but this one had knitting and magic to help keep my interest. The knitting references were very good, in particular. I loved the use of specific brands of yarn and things like that. The magic was big Hollywood type magic, so the novel stayed light and just a bit fluffy. Overall, I liked it more than I thought I would based on the romance label.