Family members have insisted over the years that I must see this or that on the big screen. I much prefer the comforts of home, but for this movie, I’ll be at the theater, squirming with excitement. I may have to go two or three times. Perhaps I’ll read the book again for the third time.

One of the libraries I frequent had The Golden Compass in the children’s section, and The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass in the young adults. After reading the trilogy, I went back to the children’s section, and looked for the Sally Lockhart series. Alas, the library only had The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, and The Tiger in the Well. But I found Count Karlstein. Loved them all.

I spent a lot of time in the kids’ library, what with Harry Potter and all. It was there that I found the film Spirited Away. And of course, the secret of that room was very simple: hardly anyone was at the computers in the evening, as opposed to the packs in the main rooms.

Looking to cross a few items off your list re headsets? Here’s a review of some of the top choices, courtesy of Slate.

Billed as the French ‘Top Gun’, we had high expectations. While the jet sequences were wondrous, I would rather have sat through 90 minutes of the titles alone. Now those were exceedingly well done.

A very simple meal of shrimp sauteed in their shells, greens and rice. But coconut cream pie for dessert.