Free book alert! “The Night Circus” at Starbucks!

Being one who frequents Starbucks, I’m used to seeing the little itunes Pick of the week cards, which contain a code to download a song or music video.

Until yesterday, I had never seen a Pick of the week that was for an ebook download, and I’m elated – because the book you can download is Erin Morgenstern’s “The Night Circus,” which I was about to go buy anyway.   (Neil Gaiman raved about this book when he spoke at the Chicago Public Library recently.)

Granted, I think you have to read it on an Apple device, but I think there’s a way to read the book on your PC.  (I’m still looking into this aspect of it.)  Also, I’m not sure exactly which Starbucks locations are offering this, but I’m sure they’re around – especially in the Chicago area.

So woot! Go get a free ebook – and one that’s supposedly one of the best reads of the year!

UPDATE:  Apparently it’s not the entire e-book, but a sample of the book.  Slightly disappointing, but still – if you were on the fence about buying the book, it could be a good preview.  (Thanks, Travis, for commenting and letting me know!)

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” on film (Swedish version)

Steig Larsson’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” was a compelling read, so I was curious to see how it would adapt to the screen.  I’m aware that there’s a fancy American version (starring Daniel Craig) about to hit screens, but I was more interested in the original film version – produced in Sweden, Mr. Larsson’s homeland.

If you’re expecting this film to be a play-by-play of the book, you’ll be disappointed.  Quite a bit has changed;  Namely, the fact that Blomkvist no longer begins  a relationship with Cecelia Vanger, and the film ignores almost all references to Erika.  She’s there, but she’s just a lady who works at Millennium.  Also, I’d guess ten or more characters were simply removed or not mentioned.

Do you want to know what I liked most about the movie?

The changes.  Strangely enough.

The adapters of this screenplay realized that there are too many characters and too much going on in Stieg Larsson’s novel for it to make sense on a movie screen, and wisely they streamlined the characters, events, and action.  All of this totally makes it work.

Noomi Rapace landed the awesome role of Lisbeth, and is astonishing. She looks the part, and has clearly done her homework.  When the American film version comes out shortly,  it’ll be interesting to see if America’s Lisbeth can live up to the ENORMOUS shoes she has to fill.  Much like the novel, Lisbeth is the best thing about the movie.  Michael Nyqvist plays Blomkvist, and he’s perfectly fine in the role.  (I found the character pretty dull in the novel, and he’s pretty dull onscreen, so it all lines up.)

The movie (and the two sequels) stream on Netflix if you’re interested in watching them.  I enjoyed the first movie, but much like the second book lost me and I didn’t read the third, I probably won’t watch the other movies.