The Portable Door by Tom Holt

 Streaming media is one of the wonders of the new century. When I think back to my childhood, access to movies and shows was so much more limited. Waiting for new episodes was a torture and having free access to a movie usually meant buying each title individually which was expensive. These days, subscription streaming services give us ready access to massive catalogs of material. With all of that media, it's ridiculous to think that it still somehow feels like there's nothing available worth watching which leads to scrolling aimlessly through lists of title cards. 

It was during such a time that I tripped across a movie titled "The Portable Door." I'd never heard of it before, but it looked appealingly silly. It's a story about a young man named Paul Carpenter who is sort of drifting through life. He's out of school and it's time to find a job but he doesn't really have any skills or even goals really. It's a surprise to him, in fact, when the venerable old company J.W. Wells & Co. hires him after a lackluster interview. He has no idea what the company does, but a jobs a job. Right?  Sure. Only, why is it they lock everyone out after 6 PM and why is it that the long stapler keeps wandering off? Why is the receptionist a different person each day? There are a lot of mysteries that come with this job.

Silly it was, but in a fun way that made it clear that it had to be based on a book. Sure enough, it was based on a Tom Holt novel of the same name. 

I finally got around to reading the novel. While the movie is clearly based on the book, there are plenty of differences in the plot. Being British humor, the pacing is a little slow and many of the changes in the movie serve to move the story along. That being said, there's something to be said for the slower pacing of the book. There is much more character development and the background romance makes a great deal more sense. 

This is the beginning of an 8 book series. I'm planning to give the next one a try but I'm a little worried about getting bogged down in the pacing, so I'll spread them out

January Recap

 January went by in a flash. It really seemed like we just celebrated the new year yesterday and somehow a month has gone by. My reading rate has recovered somewhat and I'm averaging about a book a week. It's still nowhere near where it was, but it feels good to settle back into a new rhythm. 

The Dekalb Public Library has announced their reading challenge for the year: 26 in '26. It's similar to last years century challenge but on a smaller scale. It shouldn't be to hard to complete. The list contains 52 categories, but a person only needs to complete 26 of them to be considered 'finished.' Needless to say, I'm going to try to fill in all 52.

I have to admit, I miss my monthly lists a little. It was a comfortable organizational habit, but it also made picking my next book relatively easy. I decided to move away from the monthly lists because they also tended to kill whim and spontaneity.  It feels a little strange being 'unmoored,' but strange could be good. 

Below are the list of books that I read in January. I think I'm going to try to go back to consistent reviews. Since I'm reading fewer overall, I should be able to manage it.

Books Read in January

1. The Portable Door by Tom Holt
2. My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, et al
3. House of the Beast by Michelle Wong (TBR.co 
4. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (100 books List)