I've been really enjoying what I can catch of the Olympics, but am now getting really excited about events I did not get to see - the games so far of the Lithuanian men's basketball team. 

So, as my flist know very well, I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series.  I am also a big fan of the fantasy genre more generally. A favorite writer of mine is Guy Gavriel Kay, who writes really amazing fantasy novels (he also helped to edit "The Silmarillion", for the Tolkien fans among you). His strengths are writing a large cast of interesting characters, avoiding trite "happy endings", and creating a detailed sense of a world in a way that reminds me of well-written historical fiction.

I have recently comverted a couple of HP friends to this author, and we plan to embark on a reading of his novel "Tigana", a wonderful book set in a place similar to medieval Italy. (Here, to tempt you, is a review of the book from the Toronto Star: http://www.brightweavings.com/reviews/revtigana.htm ). We've started up a Yahoo! group for this activity, and would love to have others join us if this sounds like fun. Just post here if you are interested, and I can send you an invitation.

The release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be unique in many ways. One lesser-known way is that this book will be available in a Braille print version on July 21, the same as the regular version. For the first time, blind HP fans will not have to wait months or years to read a book their sighted friends are already enjoying. This book will be made available by NBP (National Braille Press) for the cover price of the regular hardcover book.

The catch? Braille books cost a lot more to produce, so NBP needs the help of donors to cover the higher costs so that the book could remain affordable for blind readers. HP for Grownups, a discussion group of which I am a member, is sponsoring a fund drive for this cause. For more information or to donate, see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP7/.

I went to see the movie "Ratatouille" tonight, and loved it so much that I shall now proceed to gush about it to anyone who cares to read. The last movie I went and saw in a theatre that I loved as much was King Kong (not at all similar, except in that both were brilliant in their own ways and both made me cry). 

"Ratatouille" is a Pixar animated movie. The main character, Remy, is a rat who lives in France. He is blessed with very acute senses of smell and taste, and aspires to create gourmet food. The events that lead Remy to pursue his dream in Paris are excellently conceived - imagine all the zany fun you might have combining the snooty world of haute cuisine and rats, and then forget it, because the creators of this movie topped whatever you just came up with.

The movie is not just a hysterically funny comedy with a lot of rat humor, though. I found it a touching story about pursuing dreams, family, and friendship.