I really love a good book.

I was up late last night because I really wanted to finish the book I was reading, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. When I heard that Hayao Miyazaki had adapted the story for his most recent film (to be released in North America sometime this year) I felt compelled to read the book.

It was, as you can guess, a great book. At the end, I found I was physically smiling; not just my typical "Hmm, that was clever" smirk, but actually happy and content -- that's a rare feat for a novel these days. Howl's Moving Castle is teen fiction but it's suitable for pretty much any age. It's about a girl named Sophie who becomes enchanted by an evil witch and stubbornly takes up residence with the only person she thinks can help, the Wizard Howl. Howl has a reputation for eating girls' hearts and lives in a castle that floats above the heather on the hills nearby. There are mysteries she must unfold and while she solves them, she learns a lot about herself in the process.

What I loved most about Sophie was that she was convinced that she would amount to nothing and could not do anything right. Throughout the book, she is perturbed, bothered or grumpy. In other words, I could totally identify with her.

For about the first page and a half, I was distracted because I was imagining how Miyazaki would render the characters on film -- after that and until the end of the book I was able to push that aside and build the world inside my head. Once I put the book down, and realized I was smiling, I also realized that some part of my happiness was that this book was a perfect match for Miyazaki's style. I would trust no other animator (or studio) and few fimmakers to create this world with any kind of respect. Now, more than ever, I am looking forward to the release of the film.