Sometimes when people recommend movies, I am skeptical. But then, if their recommendation complies with a ton of other recommendations, I start to assign it a little bit of gravitas.
We watch so few movies a year. Generally, we choose to assign our babysitting time to live events (concerts, plays, dinners with friends), and often we don't have the time / energy to watch an entire movie at home. But we had a stretch of time where the kids were with my mom, and we threw a bunch of it to movies.
We went to see Argo, a thriller (based on a true story) about the CIA evacuation of 6 of the US personnel who escaped from being hostages in 1979-80. I don't know (or, really care) what proportion of the movie is real or dramatized. I LOVED it. So well done, so well documented.
I'm reluctant to share my one quibble with it, given how well it was done. But I'll throw it out there.
The hero of the the actual event is Latino. Despite the otherwise meticulous attention to detail, Ben Affleck elected to replace the central character, Tony Mendez with a non-Latino actor - himself. I totally get that Affleck wanted to be the man in this amazing movie, and he did a lovely job IN the film. But after I watched the movie, I wished he'd cast it elsewhere. He's likely to win an Oscar (or maybe several). Did he need to jam himself in there?
HEY HEY ! LOOK! I WATCHED ANOTHER MOVIE!!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
On Goals - The 3rd Edition
At the start of the calendar year, I said (alleged? posited? threatened?) that I was going to read 40 books and watch 40 movies.
Now, it is December 25.
According to the www, that's about 359 days into a 365 day year.
Let's throw down the facts, as collected:
In those 359 days, I have:
read 35 books
watched 8 movies.
The uncollected, imagined statistics are:
In those 359 days, I have:
Now, it is December 25.
According to the www, that's about 359 days into a 365 day year.
Let's throw down the facts, as collected:
In those 359 days, I have:
read 35 books
watched 8 movies.
The uncollected, imagined statistics are:
In those 359 days, I have:
unloaded the dishwasher 280 times
read 195 picture books
done 42 craft projects that didn't result in something I could use, wear or hang up
washed 5,898,623,009,237,401,912 loads of laundry
packed 642 lunches
posted 1,097,865 facebook updates
run 330 miles
NOT run 200 miles
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.
Which is all to say this:
I am nowhere NOWHERE nowhere close to reaching the goal I set last year, of reading 40 books, and watching 40 movies.
I'm okay with this!
Book #35 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Maybe the most telling difference between novelists and film-makers is that a novelist is down with the title, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and a film-maker thinks that Blade Runner is more the way to go.
But really, neither of those are true. The novelist rarely chooses the book title; the film-maker often has little input into the movie title.
Nonetheless, the differences between Blade Runner, the movie based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, are many. I have only seen Blade Runner once, a zillion years ago. I remember rain, and Harrison Ford, and dim lighting.
I absolutely loved Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I thought it was weird (but not in an offputting way) and interesting (but not in an "I'm saying interesting because what I mean is bad" way) and noir (in the best possible Raymond Chandler way) and sentimental (but not in a cornball way) and deep (but not in an inaccessible way).
The protagonist is a bounty hunter who's charged with tracking down androids. It's a post-apocalyptic Earth, where most humans have emigrated to Mars, and most living creatures are extinct. The few humans (and androids) left on Earth are faced with the inevitable degradation of the left-behind Earth. The novelist (Philip K. Dick) coined the term "kipple" to describe the infiltration of crap that comes with abandonment.
Loved it. Looking forward to reading more.
But really, neither of those are true. The novelist rarely chooses the book title; the film-maker often has little input into the movie title.
Nonetheless, the differences between Blade Runner, the movie based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, are many. I have only seen Blade Runner once, a zillion years ago. I remember rain, and Harrison Ford, and dim lighting.
I absolutely loved Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I thought it was weird (but not in an offputting way) and interesting (but not in an "I'm saying interesting because what I mean is bad" way) and noir (in the best possible Raymond Chandler way) and sentimental (but not in a cornball way) and deep (but not in an inaccessible way).
The protagonist is a bounty hunter who's charged with tracking down androids. It's a post-apocalyptic Earth, where most humans have emigrated to Mars, and most living creatures are extinct. The few humans (and androids) left on Earth are faced with the inevitable degradation of the left-behind Earth. The novelist (Philip K. Dick) coined the term "kipple" to describe the infiltration of crap that comes with abandonment.
Loved it. Looking forward to reading more.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Book #34 - The Book of Daniel
One of the most well-read people I know told me that her all-time favorite book is The Book of Daniel by E. L. Doctorow. Trusting her guidance, I downloaded the book on my Kindle.
I tried to read it four or five times, but each time, I got bogged down and my interest flagged, and I moved on to something easier. Recently, though, I've been sick in bed with the plague for (what seemed like) weeks at a time, and I realized what the problem was: The Book of Daniel is not a novel to enter into lightly; it's dense and insubstantial, chewy and elusive. You have to make a commitment to the Book of Daniel, and, as with most commitments, dedication pays off.
Daniel is the son of Paul and Rochelle Isaacson, who were charged with conspiracy to sell nuclear secrets to the Soviets in the 1940s. (It's based loosely on the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and though I gathered that it was related to that historical event, I really didn't care about how faithful or not it was to that story, because this novel itself was so gripping.) The novel swerves around in time - from the present, where Daniel is going to visit his sister in an insane asylum, to the near past - or is it the early future? - where Daniel is sitting in the library at Columbia trying to write his dissertation, to the far past, where his parents first met.
This was the most thoroughly well-written book I've read in years and years, and my feeble summation won't do it justice. If you need a review, there are smart reviews on Goodreads. Or, you can assume that my incredibly well-read friend has great taste in books, and go read it. Worked for me.
I tried to read it four or five times, but each time, I got bogged down and my interest flagged, and I moved on to something easier. Recently, though, I've been sick in bed with the plague for (what seemed like) weeks at a time, and I realized what the problem was: The Book of Daniel is not a novel to enter into lightly; it's dense and insubstantial, chewy and elusive. You have to make a commitment to the Book of Daniel, and, as with most commitments, dedication pays off.
Daniel is the son of Paul and Rochelle Isaacson, who were charged with conspiracy to sell nuclear secrets to the Soviets in the 1940s. (It's based loosely on the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and though I gathered that it was related to that historical event, I really didn't care about how faithful or not it was to that story, because this novel itself was so gripping.) The novel swerves around in time - from the present, where Daniel is going to visit his sister in an insane asylum, to the near past - or is it the early future? - where Daniel is sitting in the library at Columbia trying to write his dissertation, to the far past, where his parents first met.
This was the most thoroughly well-written book I've read in years and years, and my feeble summation won't do it justice. If you need a review, there are smart reviews on Goodreads. Or, you can assume that my incredibly well-read friend has great taste in books, and go read it. Worked for me.
Book #33 - The Spiderwick Chronicles
My best friend sent my daughter, a great reader, the first book in the Spiderwick Chronicles, and then, post facto said, "Mmm...maybe not for a first grader. You should read it first to test it out." So I read The Field Guide, the first in the Spiderwick Chronicles and was totally hooked.
I ran to the library to get the rest of the series (there are five in the first series, but there's a follow-on series called "Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles" which I think I'll be checking out shortly), but only books 3-5 were available. I inhaled them. Today, weeks later, I finally got book 2 from the library, so I can close this series down.
Jared, his twin brother Simon, his older sister Mallory, and his newly-divorced mom have left the city and moved to Great-aunt Lucy's creepy and ramshackle house in the country. They've left partly to have a fresh start after the divorce, and partly because Jared has been getting into a lot of trouble in school. As soon as they arrive at Spiderwick estates, Jared senses there's something really weird going on, and before too long, he learns what it is: there are faerie creatures all over Spiderwick. The kids work together (though not always harmoniously) to deal with the brownies, boggarts, elves, hobgoblins, goblins, trolls, etc. and, as you might imagine, things turn out OK at the end.
Fun, bright, and interesting, but also a pretty true-to-heart representation of the emotional life of post-divorce kids. I loved the series!
(Because each book was about 60 pages including illustrations, I'm counting all five as one installment, even though it would take a huge whack at my forty-book goal if I didn't!!)
I ran to the library to get the rest of the series (there are five in the first series, but there's a follow-on series called "Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles" which I think I'll be checking out shortly), but only books 3-5 were available. I inhaled them. Today, weeks later, I finally got book 2 from the library, so I can close this series down.
Jared, his twin brother Simon, his older sister Mallory, and his newly-divorced mom have left the city and moved to Great-aunt Lucy's creepy and ramshackle house in the country. They've left partly to have a fresh start after the divorce, and partly because Jared has been getting into a lot of trouble in school. As soon as they arrive at Spiderwick estates, Jared senses there's something really weird going on, and before too long, he learns what it is: there are faerie creatures all over Spiderwick. The kids work together (though not always harmoniously) to deal with the brownies, boggarts, elves, hobgoblins, goblins, trolls, etc. and, as you might imagine, things turn out OK at the end.
Fun, bright, and interesting, but also a pretty true-to-heart representation of the emotional life of post-divorce kids. I loved the series!
(Because each book was about 60 pages including illustrations, I'm counting all five as one installment, even though it would take a huge whack at my forty-book goal if I didn't!!)
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Book #32 - REVISIT - Just Kids
Just Kids is Patti Smith's memoir about her early adulthood, and particularly, her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.
I really didn't like it.
I thought I would.
I should have liked it. Art! Punk Rock! Theatre! What's not to like?
The narrative read as an emotionless chronicle of (what should have been?) a passionate time and series of experiences. Smith relentlessly catalogs the personalities she encountered (lists of 5-10 names were common):
"Through [Bobby Neuwirth] I had met Todd [Rundgren], the artist Bruce Marden and Larry Poons, and the musicians Billy Swann, Tom Paxton, Eric Andersen, Roger McGuinn, and Kris Kristofferson."
I know that for some, that list could read like a series of explosions. "You met who!? When!? All at once??!" To me, it looked like name dropping, and not in service of the narrative. I found Smith's writing, when it wasn't downright awkward ("It was within that atmosphere that I seethed.") then uncomfortably remote and passionless (as when she explains her numerous breakups, including with Mapplethorpe).
My favorite college professor (and, lucky for me, my current book group compatriot) talks about (possibly invented the term???) the Apostolary Narrative. It's meant to be a play on the Epistolary Narrative (books through letters), and it describes the kind of book where the Apostles get to tell the story, and the story isn't theirs. The New Testament, obviously, is one. The Great Gatsby is one (Nick is the Apostle, Jay Gatsby gets to be the Christ). I'd throw Brideshead Revisited and My AntonÃa into the mix. Hopefully my prof will weigh in with a better list.
When I got to the end of Just Kids, and read the epilogue explaining that Smith was responding to Mapplethorpe's dying request that she "tell their story," I realized that was the problem. The book was posing as an apostolary narrative, but was actually written as a memoir, and so succeeded at neither.
I really didn't like it.
I thought I would.
I should have liked it. Art! Punk Rock! Theatre! What's not to like?
The narrative read as an emotionless chronicle of (what should have been?) a passionate time and series of experiences. Smith relentlessly catalogs the personalities she encountered (lists of 5-10 names were common):
"Through [Bobby Neuwirth] I had met Todd [Rundgren], the artist Bruce Marden and Larry Poons, and the musicians Billy Swann, Tom Paxton, Eric Andersen, Roger McGuinn, and Kris Kristofferson."
I know that for some, that list could read like a series of explosions. "You met who!? When!? All at once??!" To me, it looked like name dropping, and not in service of the narrative. I found Smith's writing, when it wasn't downright awkward ("It was within that atmosphere that I seethed.") then uncomfortably remote and passionless (as when she explains her numerous breakups, including with Mapplethorpe).
My favorite college professor (and, lucky for me, my current book group compatriot) talks about (possibly invented the term???) the Apostolary Narrative. It's meant to be a play on the Epistolary Narrative (books through letters), and it describes the kind of book where the Apostles get to tell the story, and the story isn't theirs. The New Testament, obviously, is one. The Great Gatsby is one (Nick is the Apostle, Jay Gatsby gets to be the Christ). I'd throw Brideshead Revisited and My AntonÃa into the mix. Hopefully my prof will weigh in with a better list.
When I got to the end of Just Kids, and read the epilogue explaining that Smith was responding to Mapplethorpe's dying request that she "tell their story," I realized that was the problem. The book was posing as an apostolary narrative, but was actually written as a memoir, and so succeeded at neither.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Book #32 - Just Kids
For my book group, we read Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids.
I really did NOT like it, much to my surprise. I'm going to wait to post a real review until after book group, but this is the record showing that I read another book!
I really did NOT like it, much to my surprise. I'm going to wait to post a real review until after book group, but this is the record showing that I read another book!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Books #29-31 - a very lame post
I have been reading, but have not been writing about what I've read. If I don't get something down here, I will be permanently mired in the It-Will-Take-Too-Long-So-Why-Bother swamp. So this is lame, but hopefully it means I can approach book #32 freshly.
Book #29 -One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper. Loved the book. Wish I had bought a paper version instead of a Kindle version so that I could loan it out.
Book #30 - Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. Second in the All Souls trilogy (the first was A Discovery of Witches). Total slog for me. Uninspired to read the third in the series, whenever it comes out.
Book #31 - The Litigators by John Grisham. It's been a zillion years since I read a Grisham lawyer book. How does he do it? How does he come up with all these iterations of the same story, and keep making them eminently readable?
OK. Caught up.
Also, I'm noticing that it's the middle of November, which means ~6 weeks left of the year, and I have nine books to read if I'm going to get to 40. Hmmm. Fascinating.
Book #29 -One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper. Loved the book. Wish I had bought a paper version instead of a Kindle version so that I could loan it out.
Book #30 - Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. Second in the All Souls trilogy (the first was A Discovery of Witches). Total slog for me. Uninspired to read the third in the series, whenever it comes out.
Book #31 - The Litigators by John Grisham. It's been a zillion years since I read a Grisham lawyer book. How does he do it? How does he come up with all these iterations of the same story, and keep making them eminently readable?
OK. Caught up.
Also, I'm noticing that it's the middle of November, which means ~6 weeks left of the year, and I have nine books to read if I'm going to get to 40. Hmmm. Fascinating.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Book #28 - Wee Free Men
My sister & nephew, both avid readers with good taste, recommended I read The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, so I got it right away.
The wee free men, it turns out, are tiny blue guys with lots of tattoos and a thick Scottish dialect, and they're known as "pictsies" (and they get really angry if you mistake them for "pixies"). The protagonist is a 9-year-old girl named Tiffany who wants to become a witch, but worries that her name might interfere with her success.
The novel is a bright and funny fantasy / adventure story, with great characters and dialogue, and good depictions of girls & women. (So nice to find that!)
I found myself wishing, though, that I'd listened to the book instead of read it. Long ago, I listened to Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry, and it was the best book recording ever. [And I'm including Jim Dale's recording of the Harry Potter books in that calculus!] I attribute my enjoyment of Anansi Boys ~35% to the great writing and ~65% to the amazing performance. Hearing it read—and read so well—decreased my general discomfort with the genre, and increased my attention in the passages I would have skimmed with my eyes.
So though I very much enjoyed Wee Free Men, I still think I might try to track down an audio version of it. I think I would like it better with my ears.
The wee free men, it turns out, are tiny blue guys with lots of tattoos and a thick Scottish dialect, and they're known as "pictsies" (and they get really angry if you mistake them for "pixies"). The protagonist is a 9-year-old girl named Tiffany who wants to become a witch, but worries that her name might interfere with her success.
The novel is a bright and funny fantasy / adventure story, with great characters and dialogue, and good depictions of girls & women. (So nice to find that!)
I found myself wishing, though, that I'd listened to the book instead of read it. Long ago, I listened to Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry, and it was the best book recording ever. [And I'm including Jim Dale's recording of the Harry Potter books in that calculus!] I attribute my enjoyment of Anansi Boys ~35% to the great writing and ~65% to the amazing performance. Hearing it read—and read so well—decreased my general discomfort with the genre, and increased my attention in the passages I would have skimmed with my eyes.
So though I very much enjoyed Wee Free Men, I still think I might try to track down an audio version of it. I think I would like it better with my ears.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Book #27 - Brideshead Revisited
In the rules of this (wholly arbitrary, self-inflicted) challenge, I am supposed to only "count" New To Me books/movies. In deference to that, I have not posted every time I watched Fletch. I also abstained from book group in June because they were reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, which I read years ago.
But then, I started to get that yearning that I get when it's been too long since I've read BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. It's as though I haven't heard from someone I love in a long time, that kind of loneliness and melancholy.
For years, whenever someone asked "What is your favorite book?" I answered "The House of Mirth." And I had a ready explanation of what I loved about Lily Bart and her tragic descent and the loveliness and pain of Wharton's depiction of the era.
But somewhere along the line, 10 or 15 years ago, I realized that I hadn't read HOM for years. And then I realized I was reading BRIDESHEAD REVISITED annually.
I keep revisiting (apologies) the novel because I can't stop thinking about the people in it. (They don't even feel like characters to me, just people.) Moments and scenes and quotations stick in my head as though I'd lived them, not read them. And every time I read it, I am taken anew by some element or line or scene, as though it was completely new to me.
Maybe this is what scholars do? Inhabit a text completely; consume it and commune with it so that they can own it? I can, through the narrow opening provided by this small novel of Evelyn Waugh (and my experience of it) see clearly how and why that would appeal. I would want to be an academic if I got to dissect BRIDESHEAD.
So this is my explanation of why, despite the fact that it's not an unread book, I am counting this rereading of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED towards my goal.
Have you read it? I'd be happy to read it again, and talk about it with you.
But then, I started to get that yearning that I get when it's been too long since I've read BRIDESHEAD REVISITED. It's as though I haven't heard from someone I love in a long time, that kind of loneliness and melancholy.
For years, whenever someone asked "What is your favorite book?" I answered "The House of Mirth." And I had a ready explanation of what I loved about Lily Bart and her tragic descent and the loveliness and pain of Wharton's depiction of the era.
But somewhere along the line, 10 or 15 years ago, I realized that I hadn't read HOM for years. And then I realized I was reading BRIDESHEAD REVISITED annually.
I keep revisiting (apologies) the novel because I can't stop thinking about the people in it. (They don't even feel like characters to me, just people.) Moments and scenes and quotations stick in my head as though I'd lived them, not read them. And every time I read it, I am taken anew by some element or line or scene, as though it was completely new to me.
Maybe this is what scholars do? Inhabit a text completely; consume it and commune with it so that they can own it? I can, through the narrow opening provided by this small novel of Evelyn Waugh (and my experience of it) see clearly how and why that would appeal. I would want to be an academic if I got to dissect BRIDESHEAD.
So this is my explanation of why, despite the fact that it's not an unread book, I am counting this rereading of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED towards my goal.
Have you read it? I'd be happy to read it again, and talk about it with you.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Book #26 - Mary Ann in Autumn
When I was a first year in college, a friend hooked me up with the novel The Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. Set in the 70's in San Francisco, the novel reads in a flash, in part because it's so delicious, and in part because it was originally published as short weekly columns in the San Francsico Chronicle (so each chapter was a little bite-sized nugget of story with iconic characters in crazy situations).
A whole bunch of us were hooked on the novels: passing them around like a candy dish, gasping over the more shocking turns of event, and then rereading the whole series again. (In between games of Tetris and, oh yeah, actual school work.)
Then, in 2008, wonder of wonders, another novel in the series was introduced! It was such a delight to get to check in with these belovedfriends characters, from whom we hadn't heard in so long.
Now, in the age of Facebook, guess what?! You can be a fan of awesome authors, including Armistead Maupin, on Facebook. It's nice to be able tostalk follow these fantastic writers, and it comes with unexpected benefits like this: One day, Armistead Maupin posted on his FB page that you could buy one of his novels right from him, and he would sign it for you!
And because of that, I learned that somehow, I had missed the publication of the newest novel in the Tales series: Mary Ann in Autumn. As with all of the others, it was warm, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Tales devotees: I will loan you my copy, but you have to promise to return it. My friend Armistead sent it just for me.
A whole bunch of us were hooked on the novels: passing them around like a candy dish, gasping over the more shocking turns of event, and then rereading the whole series again. (In between games of Tetris and, oh yeah, actual school work.)
Then, in 2008, wonder of wonders, another novel in the series was introduced! It was such a delight to get to check in with these beloved
Now, in the age of Facebook, guess what?! You can be a fan of awesome authors, including Armistead Maupin, on Facebook. It's nice to be able to
And because of that, I learned that somehow, I had missed the publication of the newest novel in the Tales series: Mary Ann in Autumn. As with all of the others, it was warm, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Tales devotees: I will loan you my copy, but you have to promise to return it. My friend Armistead sent it just for me.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Movie #8 - BRIDESMAIDS!!
I have been absolutely dying to see Bridesmaids for ages..since it came out, basically. But we don't get to the movies much these days; I think we see 2-3 movies in the theatre per year. We could say that it's because we have kids, but we get out to do other things (go out to supper with friends, go to live theatre or music shows, go for runs, etc.). I think it's that I (I have to stop speaking for both of us!!) don't care enough about movies any more to make them a priority.
When I lived in Los Angeles, I went to the movies all the time. I had friends who worked in The Industry, and I had a friend who managed a movie theatre; combined that meant that I could (despite my remarkably low income) see a lot of movies. My friends and I started a "Film Forum," kind of like a book group for movies, where we'd get together to watch Important Movies and then discuss them.
I was working at a film production company when I first read the script of Saving Private Ryan, and it was the most amazing screenplay I had ever read. (And by then, I had read scores, if not hundreds of screenplays.) So I was quite excited when the film came out, especially given the amazing cast that had been pulled together for it. I went to see the movie with a wonderful friend, but we arrived a little late, and it was opening weekend, and we were at a very popular theatre, and it was PACKED. We couldn't find two seats together, and I ended up sitting in the very front row, sort of slumped down in my seat and cracking my neck to look up at the screen.
Have you ever seen the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan? Imagine seeing it that close, forty feet high, with state of the art surround sound. It was the most intensely uncomfortable movie experience of my life.
This is all a long way of trying to explain how I rationalize my deep fondness for the genre of films I like to call "Dumb Guy Movies." Dumb Guy Movies don't give you a headache when you watch them. Dumb Guy Movies don't make you weep uncontrollably. Dumb Guy Movies make you laugh, and often have a very sweet / heart-warming element.
BUT! Dumb Guy Movies can also be super racist & sexist & inappropriate (while still being, to my juvenile mind, pretty freaking funny).
So how awesome that women are embracing, nay, entering the field of Dumb Guy Movies! Bridesmaids fit the form (or is it a formula? Or both?): friend conflict, wacky batch of friends to help you learn something good about yourself, huge number of jokes about bodily fluids, etc.
I didn't laugh my ass off at Bridesmaids, but I did like it. And, to be honest, part of the reason I love the others in the genre is that they get better with rewatching. So I will add Bridesmaids to the list of "Always Stop and Watch" when it's on (but only on cable).
When I lived in Los Angeles, I went to the movies all the time. I had friends who worked in The Industry, and I had a friend who managed a movie theatre; combined that meant that I could (despite my remarkably low income) see a lot of movies. My friends and I started a "Film Forum," kind of like a book group for movies, where we'd get together to watch Important Movies and then discuss them.
I was working at a film production company when I first read the script of Saving Private Ryan, and it was the most amazing screenplay I had ever read. (And by then, I had read scores, if not hundreds of screenplays.) So I was quite excited when the film came out, especially given the amazing cast that had been pulled together for it. I went to see the movie with a wonderful friend, but we arrived a little late, and it was opening weekend, and we were at a very popular theatre, and it was PACKED. We couldn't find two seats together, and I ended up sitting in the very front row, sort of slumped down in my seat and cracking my neck to look up at the screen.
Have you ever seen the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan? Imagine seeing it that close, forty feet high, with state of the art surround sound. It was the most intensely uncomfortable movie experience of my life.
This is all a long way of trying to explain how I rationalize my deep fondness for the genre of films I like to call "Dumb Guy Movies." Dumb Guy Movies don't give you a headache when you watch them. Dumb Guy Movies don't make you weep uncontrollably. Dumb Guy Movies make you laugh, and often have a very sweet / heart-warming element.
BUT! Dumb Guy Movies can also be super racist & sexist & inappropriate (while still being, to my juvenile mind, pretty freaking funny).
So how awesome that women are embracing, nay, entering the field of Dumb Guy Movies! Bridesmaids fit the form (or is it a formula? Or both?): friend conflict, wacky batch of friends to help you learn something good about yourself, huge number of jokes about bodily fluids, etc.
I didn't laugh my ass off at Bridesmaids, but I did like it. And, to be honest, part of the reason I love the others in the genre is that they get better with rewatching. So I will add Bridesmaids to the list of "Always Stop and Watch" when it's on (but only on cable).
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Book #25 - The Tragedy of Arthur
My aunt and uncle (which really means "my dad's cousin and her husband" and has no direct translation in English) are avid readers and awesome book buyers. They're the ones who gave me The People of the Book, which I read earlier this year (and very much enjoyed). For my FORTIETH (ahem) birthday this year, they gave me Arthur Phillips newest, The Tragedy of Arthur.
The premise of the book is that Arthur Phillips (the author, and a novelist of some repute) is in a bit of a crisis. His father, a notorious and convicted con-man, has handed him a previously undiscovered Shakespeare play about Arthur, King of the Britons.
And now, I'm at a point I imagine reviewers / bloggers / opinionaters of all stripes encounter: do you reveal significant plot points so that you can discuss the meat of it? Or do you keep them mum, only saying "yay!' or "NAY!" so that you are only serving as a crossroads?
I am going to assume that most of my readers -- all 3 of you -- are either more well-read than I (meaning you've already read this) or are more sophisticated readers (meaning that you can read something for the enjoyment of it, regardless of plot points). So I'm going to go into my reaction more specifically, at risk of ruining some surprises. [your chance to opt out, if you're dying to maintain the surprise of this novel!]
On purpose, when I was reading this book (okay, I'll say it, this NOVEL!), I didn't do any google or wikipedia research. It's written very autobiographically, as though A.P. has a twin sister, and a con-artist dad, and a discontented wife in Prague, etc. etc. And I didn't want to know truth from fiction.
For most of it.
The last 1/6 of the book is the text of the "Shakespeare" play, The Tragedy of Arthur. And suddenly, I didn't care if it was real or imagined or fabricated or discovered. I just knew I didn't want to read it. Man, I tried. I really did. But after about 10ish pages of Shakespearish language, I knew I had to set it aside if I ever had any hope of moving on to the next book.
Perhaps this is evidence that the play "discovered" by Phillip's father is genuinely Shakespeare! I think it's just bolstering the case that I'm something of a Philistine.
The premise of the book is that Arthur Phillips (the author, and a novelist of some repute) is in a bit of a crisis. His father, a notorious and convicted con-man, has handed him a previously undiscovered Shakespeare play about Arthur, King of the Britons.
And now, I'm at a point I imagine reviewers / bloggers / opinionaters of all stripes encounter: do you reveal significant plot points so that you can discuss the meat of it? Or do you keep them mum, only saying "yay!' or "NAY!" so that you are only serving as a crossroads?
I am going to assume that most of my readers -- all 3 of you -- are either more well-read than I (meaning you've already read this) or are more sophisticated readers (meaning that you can read something for the enjoyment of it, regardless of plot points). So I'm going to go into my reaction more specifically, at risk of ruining some surprises. [your chance to opt out, if you're dying to maintain the surprise of this novel!]
On purpose, when I was reading this book (okay, I'll say it, this NOVEL!), I didn't do any google or wikipedia research. It's written very autobiographically, as though A.P. has a twin sister, and a con-artist dad, and a discontented wife in Prague, etc. etc. And I didn't want to know truth from fiction.
For most of it.
The last 1/6 of the book is the text of the "Shakespeare" play, The Tragedy of Arthur. And suddenly, I didn't care if it was real or imagined or fabricated or discovered. I just knew I didn't want to read it. Man, I tried. I really did. But after about 10ish pages of Shakespearish language, I knew I had to set it aside if I ever had any hope of moving on to the next book.
Perhaps this is evidence that the play "discovered" by Phillip's father is genuinely Shakespeare! I think it's just bolstering the case that I'm something of a Philistine.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Book #24 - Stone Arabia
My wonderful and eclectic book group selected Dana Spiotta's novel, Stone Arabia to read this month. It drew comparisons to an earlier book we read, A Visit from the Goon Squad, and it reminded me of Jonathan Lethem's novels The Fortress of Solitude and You Don't Love Me Yet. Contemporary Rock Novels -- is this a new genre? Has music changed and shaped our dialogue and experience so much that now that it's its own thing?
The thing about rock shaping literature is this: I don't know enough about music to ever be the right kind of reader for these novels. I know what I like in music, but what I like is purely aesthetic, and doesn't have to do with (necessarily) excellence, genius, innovation, etc. I feel the same way about food, sometimes. I read what people write about food, and I really think that their senses are more well developed than mine. I know if I think something is yummy or yucky, and it's not often I can get a whole lot more descriptive than that.
But does that matter? Do you have to really understand a subject to appreciate it in a novel? Are we -- the less sophisticated, less nuanced, less knowledgeable readers doomed to diminished enjoyment? If an author writing on the intricacies of early-80's American/British rock can inspire emotional response in me, does it matter if I only understand the broad strokes ("Hey! She said David Bowie! I know him!") and not the subtleties ("Wait, is that band real or fictional?")?
For the moment, I will continue appreciating what I learn about music from novels, and enjoy the oblivion of never really knowing what's real or not.
The thing about rock shaping literature is this: I don't know enough about music to ever be the right kind of reader for these novels. I know what I like in music, but what I like is purely aesthetic, and doesn't have to do with (necessarily) excellence, genius, innovation, etc. I feel the same way about food, sometimes. I read what people write about food, and I really think that their senses are more well developed than mine. I know if I think something is yummy or yucky, and it's not often I can get a whole lot more descriptive than that.
But does that matter? Do you have to really understand a subject to appreciate it in a novel? Are we -- the less sophisticated, less nuanced, less knowledgeable readers doomed to diminished enjoyment? If an author writing on the intricacies of early-80's American/British rock can inspire emotional response in me, does it matter if I only understand the broad strokes ("Hey! She said David Bowie! I know him!") and not the subtleties ("Wait, is that band real or fictional?")?
For the moment, I will continue appreciating what I learn about music from novels, and enjoy the oblivion of never really knowing what's real or not.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Movie #7 - Into The Night
I have several days home alone, and so thought I should capitalize on this time to clean the house & watch movies. I am still dying to see Bridesmaids, but for a person who's kind of movie inept (no Netflix, never used Redbox, late to the game on a library reservation, etc..) it wasn't easy for me to track it down today. So I decided, instead, I would just choose something free from On Demand.
I ended up choosing 1985's Into The Night. The real reason I chose it was because my best friend has a lifelong, eternal crush on Jeff Goldblum, and he stars.
In other posts, I try to do a lot of hyperlinking, to get people to actual, relevant source material -- or at least to material of people more knowledgeable than I am. This one, I'm trying to keep it to a minimum, because I have thoughts & reactions to this weird little movie, and would like to write them and THEN research.
The premise of the movie is that Jeff Goldblum's character has chronic insomnia, and it's causing a number of problems. Through a series of misadventures, he meets Michelle Pfeiffer's character, and rescues her from being killed by a variety of bad guys. [Spoiler: It has a happy ending for the two actors I've mentioned, but not for tons of others..]
It was funny to watch this movie I'd never heard of that was so totally representing a time in the USA in my youth. Complete with big shoulderpads, feathered hair, synthesizer soundtracks and inappropriate stereotypes, it was awkward in the way many movies from the mid-80's are.
But it also had these clever filmic moments that I really admired! There's a scene where Goldblum is trying to find Pfeiffer in a big fancy apartment/suite thing, and as he creeps from room to room, the TV is on in every room, and what's being shown is a retro black&white Scary Movie, so that the soundtrack from the Scary Movie becomes the soundtrack of Goldblum's search.
There were other interesting moments / montages / constructs. I wonder -- do all mediocre movies have these, and I rarely notice them? Do I ascribe interesting things to this film because of the nascent star power put into it (John Landis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum)? And really, most of all. who in the hell do you have to be to get Dan Aykroyd, Jim Henson and David Bowie to cameo in your film????
I ended up choosing 1985's Into The Night. The real reason I chose it was because my best friend has a lifelong, eternal crush on Jeff Goldblum, and he stars.
In other posts, I try to do a lot of hyperlinking, to get people to actual, relevant source material -- or at least to material of people more knowledgeable than I am. This one, I'm trying to keep it to a minimum, because I have thoughts & reactions to this weird little movie, and would like to write them and THEN research.
The premise of the movie is that Jeff Goldblum's character has chronic insomnia, and it's causing a number of problems. Through a series of misadventures, he meets Michelle Pfeiffer's character, and rescues her from being killed by a variety of bad guys. [Spoiler: It has a happy ending for the two actors I've mentioned, but not for tons of others..]
It was funny to watch this movie I'd never heard of that was so totally representing a time in the USA in my youth. Complete with big shoulderpads, feathered hair, synthesizer soundtracks and inappropriate stereotypes, it was awkward in the way many movies from the mid-80's are.
But it also had these clever filmic moments that I really admired! There's a scene where Goldblum is trying to find Pfeiffer in a big fancy apartment/suite thing, and as he creeps from room to room, the TV is on in every room, and what's being shown is a retro black&white Scary Movie, so that the soundtrack from the Scary Movie becomes the soundtrack of Goldblum's search.
There were other interesting moments / montages / constructs. I wonder -- do all mediocre movies have these, and I rarely notice them? Do I ascribe interesting things to this film because of the nascent star power put into it (John Landis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum)? And really, most of all. who in the hell do you have to be to get Dan Aykroyd, Jim Henson and David Bowie to cameo in your film????
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Movie #6 - Ted
YAY! A movie in a movie theatre! A FIRST-RUN movie! A FUNNY movie! Starring super-cute Marky Mark. Written & directed (and starring, as the bear) by the super-inappropriate, super-raunchy, super-sophomoric, always brilliant Seth MacFarlane.
Not as good as an episode of The Family Guy, but still super fun.
Yay! A dumb comedy, IN THE THEATRE!!!
Not as good as an episode of The Family Guy, but still super fun.
Yay! A dumb comedy, IN THE THEATRE!!!
Book #23 - The Language of Flowers
The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, is the story of Victoria -- a young woman who has aged out of the foster care system in San Francisco.
By turns inspiring and depressing, it's a really well written, interesting & moving novel. The title refers to the Victorian practice of assigning meanings / definitions to flowers. (e.g., yellow rose = infidelity, red rose = love, camellia = "my destiny is in your hands") Victoria, the protagonist, is well versed in the language of flowers, and it serves her well.
The author, Diffenbaugh, has since co-founded a non-profit organization (called The Camellia Network) designed to support young adults aging out of the foster system by getting them targeted funding for specific aspirations. It seems pretty interesting.
As a side note, the author's daughter was in my daughter's kindergarten class last year!
By turns inspiring and depressing, it's a really well written, interesting & moving novel. The title refers to the Victorian practice of assigning meanings / definitions to flowers. (e.g., yellow rose = infidelity, red rose = love, camellia = "my destiny is in your hands") Victoria, the protagonist, is well versed in the language of flowers, and it serves her well.
The author, Diffenbaugh, has since co-founded a non-profit organization (called The Camellia Network) designed to support young adults aging out of the foster system by getting them targeted funding for specific aspirations. It seems pretty interesting.
As a side note, the author's daughter was in my daughter's kindergarten class last year!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Book #22 - Seriously...I'm Kidding
According to the source of my inspiration for this nonsense, audio books count just as much as visual books. Today, when I spent a long time in the car, I listened to Ellen Degeneres read her newest book, Seriously...I'm Kidding. It was (as you'd expect!!!) funny, bright, clever, insightful.
Random thing that I really loved about the audio recording: Ellen read every chapter name (meaning, "CHAPTER ONE!" "CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE!") with a different flair & intonation. I am picturing her in the recording booth, and her director saying, "OK, show me enthusiastic! Great. Now show me puzzled. Great. Now show me zany." etc.
Random thing that I really loved about the audio recording: Ellen read every chapter name (meaning, "CHAPTER ONE!" "CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE!") with a different flair & intonation. I am picturing her in the recording booth, and her director saying, "OK, show me enthusiastic! Great. Now show me puzzled. Great. Now show me zany." etc.
Book #21 - Sacré Bleu
I am a big fan of Christopher Moore novels. I've read a ton of them, and always enjoyed his blend of humor, history, and inventiveness. So I was incredibly excited when I learned (via a Facebook ad, of all things! Can you believe that I got a targeted ad that was actually appropriate and appealing???) that he had a new novel, Sacré Bleu. And even more excited when I went to the library and saw it sitting there on the Speed Read shelf, waiting for me to check it out.
Sacré Bleu is a novel of the Post-Impressionist Paris art scene, including Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh, Seurat, and others of the period. They are haunted / blessed by Bleu, the muse who brings them the singular color blue they incorporate in their paintings.
It's a fun and engaging book, but unlike Moore's previous works, I didn't LOVE it. It seemed like he was wishing he was actually Tom Robbins, and so was doing his damndest to write like Robbins.
If you're a die-hard Moore fan, read it. If you're unfamiliar with Moore, read Lamb or the vampire books, You Suck and Bite Me, instead.
Sacré Bleu is a novel of the Post-Impressionist Paris art scene, including Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh, Seurat, and others of the period. They are haunted / blessed by Bleu, the muse who brings them the singular color blue they incorporate in their paintings.
It's a fun and engaging book, but unlike Moore's previous works, I didn't LOVE it. It seemed like he was wishing he was actually Tom Robbins, and so was doing his damndest to write like Robbins.
If you're a die-hard Moore fan, read it. If you're unfamiliar with Moore, read Lamb or the vampire books, You Suck and Bite Me, instead.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Movie #5 -- Mean Girls 2
Sometimes, when a person is trying not to think about something, that person might stay up till 2 a.m. watching a really terrible, derivative, made-for-ABC-family movie.
The real MEAN GIRLS, written by Tina Fey and starring Lindsay Lohan (before she went around the bend) is smart, biting, feminist and funny.
The "sequel," not written by (nor, I would wager, sanctioned by) Tina Fey is just garden-variety After School Special material. At best.
But it took my mind off sadness, when I knew I could neither sleep nor read.
The real MEAN GIRLS, written by Tina Fey and starring Lindsay Lohan (before she went around the bend) is smart, biting, feminist and funny.
The "sequel," not written by (nor, I would wager, sanctioned by) Tina Fey is just garden-variety After School Special material. At best.
But it took my mind off sadness, when I knew I could neither sleep nor read.
Friday, August 3, 2012
MOVIE #4. Cry- Baby
Yep. Honest to Joe, it's the FOURTH real-live NEW movie I've seen this year. What's worse...(wait is there something worse??) is that I could have & should have seen this movie as a high school kid. I think know my sister told me about how awesome John Waters is, but it wasn't enough, so I skipped seeing Cry-Baby when I should have, and instead, just watched it last week as I folded laundry. (That is how glamorous my life is...)
I liked it. OK. I liked it okay. I didn't LOVE it. And really, what I thought, was that it was a not-great ripoff of Waters' own movie, Hairspray. Not as sharp, not as textured, not as...well...good.
Ah well. I'm sure I can see another movie this year.
I liked it. OK. I liked it okay. I didn't LOVE it. And really, what I thought, was that it was a not-great ripoff of Waters' own movie, Hairspray. Not as sharp, not as textured, not as...well...good.
Ah well. I'm sure I can see another movie this year.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Book #20 - ANOTHER Spellman Book
I think we should spend a few minutes in this blog going, "Hey! That Lisa Lutz! She totally kicks ass!" And then we should say, "Wow, that fifth book she wrote is mega." And that should be followed by, "HOLY CATS, KATHRYN IS HALFWAY THROUGH HER BOOK-READING GOAL!"
Can I get a "Hell yeah!!!"?
Can I get a "Hell yeah!!!"?
Sunday, July 8, 2012
On Goals - Volume 2
Lest my readers fear, let me offer this information: My goal (40 books, 40 movies [HA!] in my 40th year) is a calendar year goal. I am not trying to reach this goal by my birthday (which looms ominously). I am shooting for 40 books by December 31, and I'm nearly halfway through the books, and just over halfway through the year, so I'm feeling fine about it all.
Also, as has been previously discussed, my contribution to the movie side of my goal has been woefully inadequate. To date, I still have only watched three movies this year. Three! Three movies in more than 6 months!
If I could count episodes of The Family Guy towards my movie goal, I would have already knocked this one out of the park. But that's not the goal I set for myself. Aaaaaaanyway. It has been pointed out that it's still POSSIBLE to watch 37 movies between now & December 31. It would take commitment, and a definite change in my patterns. But it's possible.
Stay tuned.
Stay tuned.
Book #19 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Though I haven't been in more than a year, I still consider myself a member of the women's book group at my church. I follow what's on the book list, and sometimes even try to organize myself and my reading to get to a meeting. Recently, the book group read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. I didn't make it to the meeting, but I did finally read / finish the book.
It's the (nonfiction) story behind the HeLa cells -- the most prolific human cell line ever propagated. Henrietta Lacks was a black woman in Baltimore, MD, born in 1926, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her physician biopsied her tumor, and used the biopsy not only to diagnose her cancer, but also as a research tool. He realized quickly that her cells, unlike most human cells removed from a body, were incredibly vibrant: easy to reproduce, sustain, and work with.
Skloot does a good job making the story rich and interesting: she brings in family history, the background of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the evolution of medical testing in the United States (a particularly unsavory story), and the effect (or lack thereof) of this historic scientific phenomenon on Lacks' surviving family.
So the fact that it was a slog for me to get through the book is not a testament to the book, but rather to my weaknesses as a reader. I just love a novel. I just do. I always feel virtuous after I read a nonfiction book, as though I've just had a vitamin, but I don't feel satisfied.
Book #18 - The Magician King
I am behind on blogging, but am still reading, so fear not, fearless readers.
I read the sequel to The Magicians, which is The Magician King, by Lev Grossman. I loved the Magicians (for reasons you can read in the previous post...), and The Magician King just blew the lid off the first book. It was Awesome Squared.
If you are not a dyed-in-the-wool [read: obsessed] fan of the Narnia Chronicles, maybe you won't love these books as much as I did. But I think they're better than just fan fiction; I think they're great, interesting, challenging, smart novels.
I've been trying to get my Dear Husband to read the first one, and I haven't yet formulated a convincing enough sales pitch, so if any of you have better ways of describing the awesome, please share.
I read the sequel to The Magicians, which is The Magician King, by Lev Grossman. I loved the Magicians (for reasons you can read in the previous post...), and The Magician King just blew the lid off the first book. It was Awesome Squared.
If you are not a dyed-in-the-wool [read: obsessed] fan of the Narnia Chronicles, maybe you won't love these books as much as I did. But I think they're better than just fan fiction; I think they're great, interesting, challenging, smart novels.
I've been trying to get my Dear Husband to read the first one, and I haven't yet formulated a convincing enough sales pitch, so if any of you have better ways of describing the awesome, please share.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Book #17 - The Spellmans Strike Again (Document #4 in the Spellman Files)
Something I notice about myself (about reading, but also in general):
I go on jags.
I can eat the same lunch (Boloco black bean burrito with extra salsa and lettuce, in case you're interested) 25 work days in a row.
I can listen to the same album (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, in case you're interested) so many times on repeat that I dream about the lyrics.
And, apparently, I can easily fall into a pattern of reading (and more notably, forgetting to keep up with) mystery series.
I got the most recent Lisa Lutz book, Trail of the Spellmans (part of the wonderful Izzy Spellman mystery series), and I was ~15 pages in when I realized why I was so confused: I had never read the previous book in the series. SO, I went back and got The Spellmans Strike Again, and read that, and enjoyed it, and am now actually ready to read the most recent book in the series.
But, has anyone noticed that the last two novels I read were installments in series?
In mystery series?
In mystery series I had forgotten to keep up with?
I'm leaving this particular jag. (For the moment, at least.)
I go on jags.
I can eat the same lunch (Boloco black bean burrito with extra salsa and lettuce, in case you're interested) 25 work days in a row.
I can listen to the same album (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, in case you're interested) so many times on repeat that I dream about the lyrics.
And, apparently, I can easily fall into a pattern of reading (and more notably, forgetting to keep up with) mystery series.
I got the most recent Lisa Lutz book, Trail of the Spellmans (part of the wonderful Izzy Spellman mystery series), and I was ~15 pages in when I realized why I was so confused: I had never read the previous book in the series. SO, I went back and got The Spellmans Strike Again, and read that, and enjoyed it, and am now actually ready to read the most recent book in the series.
But, has anyone noticed that the last two novels I read were installments in series?
In mystery series?
In mystery series I had forgotten to keep up with?
I'm leaving this particular jag. (For the moment, at least.)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Book #16 - The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
When we drove to Canada recently, I realized that there wouldn't be kids in the car (translation: I would not have to listen -- sorry -- GET to listen to endless hours of Laurie Berkner or The (new) Muppets). And I knew it was a long enough drive that it was likely D would want to snooze (translation: I could listen to books on CD, which put him to sleep anyway...).
So I wandered around the audio book section at our library, trying to figure out what would be fun, interesting, new, and accessible via audio. Finally I landed on the second book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series by Alan Bradley, which is The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. [I only ended up listening to the first 1/3, so had to go to the library to get the actual paper book, to find out what happened!]
For the uninitiated: Flavia de Luce is a 10-11 year old English girl, living in a run-down manor (? castle?) in the countryside of England, with her widower-ed* father and mean older sisters. Flavia is passionate about (and talented with -- which is handy, when you're solving murder mysteries...) chemistry. The novels are set in the 1940-50s (just a bit later than the Maisie Dobbs novels).
This is most definitely a series, so no one would (translation: should) jump into it with the second novel, so I am not going to go into a plot summary. But here are two thoughts:
1) I always thought this was a YA series, and was quite surprised to be sent downstairs to the Mystery section to find the novel. That is not a testament to the quality of the writing -- more to the voice of the narrator / hero.
2) I am interested in reading the third novel in the series, but I also somehow completely forgot about the series between reading the first one (2-3 years ago) and this one. As usual, not sure if this is about me as a reader or the author's gripping ability, but I'm just throwing it out there. To the ~twelve people who glance at this blog.
*WTH is the adjective of "widower"?
So I wandered around the audio book section at our library, trying to figure out what would be fun, interesting, new, and accessible via audio. Finally I landed on the second book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series by Alan Bradley, which is The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag. [I only ended up listening to the first 1/3, so had to go to the library to get the actual paper book, to find out what happened!]
For the uninitiated: Flavia de Luce is a 10-11 year old English girl, living in a run-down manor (? castle?) in the countryside of England, with her widower-ed* father and mean older sisters. Flavia is passionate about (and talented with -- which is handy, when you're solving murder mysteries...) chemistry. The novels are set in the 1940-50s (just a bit later than the Maisie Dobbs novels).
This is most definitely a series, so no one would (translation: should) jump into it with the second novel, so I am not going to go into a plot summary. But here are two thoughts:
1) I always thought this was a YA series, and was quite surprised to be sent downstairs to the Mystery section to find the novel. That is not a testament to the quality of the writing -- more to the voice of the narrator / hero.
2) I am interested in reading the third novel in the series, but I also somehow completely forgot about the series between reading the first one (2-3 years ago) and this one. As usual, not sure if this is about me as a reader or the author's gripping ability, but I'm just throwing it out there. To the ~twelve people who glance at this blog.
*WTH is the adjective of "widower"?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Book #15 - A Lesson In Secrets
Have you read any of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries? It's a series by Jacqueline Winspear, set in post-WWI London. Maisie, the hero, is a WWI vet (she was a war nurse) and a psychologist-cum-private-investigator. A Lesson In Secrets, the eighth in the series, tells of Maisie being hired by the Secret Service to go to a suspect new college in Cambridge, reportedly espousing "peace studies;" the Secret Service worries it's a breeding ground for the Red Menace.
This series of novels is so evocative of the post-War London vibe: the crippled economy, the wounded men, the pervasive anxiety of the shell-shocked nation. However, I find that Winspear's characters are less vivid. I can't quite remember, from novel to novel, which one is Inspector Whats-his-face, and which Detective-Whoosis. And as for the mysteries, they are even more ephemeral. I remember there was one with feathers, but heck if I remember what happened. There was another one where they went picking hops, and I'm sure Maisie investigated something while there, but I haven't the faintest recollection of what she was digging into.
I'm sure this is more a reflection of my slapdash reading (a.k.a., skimming) than Winspear's talent. Nonetheless, I'm not rushing to get the newest Maisie Dobbs book...
This series of novels is so evocative of the post-War London vibe: the crippled economy, the wounded men, the pervasive anxiety of the shell-shocked nation. However, I find that Winspear's characters are less vivid. I can't quite remember, from novel to novel, which one is Inspector Whats-his-face, and which Detective-Whoosis. And as for the mysteries, they are even more ephemeral. I remember there was one with feathers, but heck if I remember what happened. There was another one where they went picking hops, and I'm sure Maisie investigated something while there, but I haven't the faintest recollection of what she was digging into.
I'm sure this is more a reflection of my slapdash reading (a.k.a., skimming) than Winspear's talent. Nonetheless, I'm not rushing to get the newest Maisie Dobbs book...
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Book #14 - Invisible Monsters
It felt like a hurried selection, but that's because I'm a half-assed participant, but my awesome book group nominated Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk as our May novel.
I was a little nervous, because I had tried (and failed) to read Choke by the same author, and found it too...too...too much. Too graphic, too gross, too scary, too horrifying. So I was not excited to try Invisible Monsters.
I think this blog -- and possibly my whole reading life?? -- might be about how it's really awesome to be challenged by other readers to try something I might have otherwise passed by.
Invisible Monsters was great. Weird (but not incomprehensible), scary (but not terrifying), gripping, and relevant (as we all think about who we are, and who we want to be in the world). I am so glad to have read it.
I was a little nervous, because I had tried (and failed) to read Choke by the same author, and found it too...too...too much. Too graphic, too gross, too scary, too horrifying. So I was not excited to try Invisible Monsters.
I think this blog -- and possibly my whole reading life?? -- might be about how it's really awesome to be challenged by other readers to try something I might have otherwise passed by.
Invisible Monsters was great. Weird (but not incomprehensible), scary (but not terrifying), gripping, and relevant (as we all think about who we are, and who we want to be in the world). I am so glad to have read it.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Book #13 - The Lord of the Flies
I don't remember the moment in high school when I decided I was done with the Lord of the Flies. It was well before that character even appeared in the novel, I think. I imagine I debunked when it looked like a bunch of adolescent boys where going to bluster and shove and shout at one another throughout the book. Being an adolescent, crowded already with blustering and shoving adolescents, I felt no compulsion to read the book, so I ditched it EARLY.
But people I know and trust and honor and value have read this book, and reference this book, and it's part of how the western world talks about adolescence in general. So, when my kindle broke and I needed reading material, I returned to the fold, and bought William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
I expected / hoped to be able to discard it again so quickly, as I had when I was a teenager. None such luck. It's dense and interesting prose, and you can't loll about in it. Then I was hoping that it would suck - be too obvious or violent or give me another exit. None such. Instead I fell in. Trying, with the power of the author's descriptions and my broad-strokes imagination to see it go down, and to imagine how it could work, and assuming it wouldn't. I was totally gripped throughout. I kept thinking, "OH, man, if I was THAT GUY, I'd....
" and then there'd be some vague, unsatisfactory proposal from my scrubbed blank mind for what Henry or Hank or Samneric should do.
Brutal. Beautiful. So glad to have read it. Would love to discuss it with anyone.
But people I know and trust and honor and value have read this book, and reference this book, and it's part of how the western world talks about adolescence in general. So, when my kindle broke and I needed reading material, I returned to the fold, and bought William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
I expected / hoped to be able to discard it again so quickly, as I had when I was a teenager. None such luck. It's dense and interesting prose, and you can't loll about in it. Then I was hoping that it would suck - be too obvious or violent or give me another exit. None such. Instead I fell in. Trying, with the power of the author's descriptions and my broad-strokes imagination to see it go down, and to imagine how it could work, and assuming it wouldn't. I was totally gripped throughout. I kept thinking, "OH, man, if I was THAT GUY, I'd....
" and then there'd be some vague, unsatisfactory proposal from my scrubbed blank mind for what Henry or Hank or Samneric should do.
Brutal. Beautiful. So glad to have read it. Would love to discuss it with anyone.
Book #12 - With Malice Toward Some
Here's how awesome reading is: Recently, I read a new completely hilarious collection of essays by Laurie Notaro, which led me (given that it is 2012) to see where she might be on Facebook. And it turns out that she's not just on Facebook, she also makes book recommendations (on both FB and Good Reads). And lucky me, I found one of her recommendations: in particular, With Malice Toward Some by Margaret Halsey!
Margaret Halsey, in 1938, wrote her impressions of being an American in England and Scandinavia (and a brief stint in Paris) with humor, biting anecdotes, and cleverisms I wish I'd thought of myself. They're collected in the now out-of-print book With Malice Toward Some [which some readers are sourcing from rare booksellers.]
Me, I went OLD SCHOOL. I went to the LIBRARY. There was a copy of the book in the Widener Stacks (not even in cold storage -- in the STACKS!). I checked it out. The last time it was checked out was 1997. The time before that was 1978.
I am pretty sure that I have now assembled enough data points for some undergraduate feminist scholar to pull a Kate Chopin and get a hella glory day for Margaret Halsey coming up. Am I right? Can I get a "hell yeah"??
Read the book. It doesn't disappoint.
Margaret Halsey, in 1938, wrote her impressions of being an American in England and Scandinavia (and a brief stint in Paris) with humor, biting anecdotes, and cleverisms I wish I'd thought of myself. They're collected in the now out-of-print book With Malice Toward Some [which some readers are sourcing from rare booksellers.]
Me, I went OLD SCHOOL. I went to the LIBRARY. There was a copy of the book in the Widener Stacks (not even in cold storage -- in the STACKS!). I checked it out. The last time it was checked out was 1997. The time before that was 1978.
I am pretty sure that I have now assembled enough data points for some undergraduate feminist scholar to pull a Kate Chopin and get a hella glory day for Margaret Halsey coming up. Am I right? Can I get a "hell yeah"??
Read the book. It doesn't disappoint.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Book #11 - If You Were Here
It's not my husband's fault. I sent him off into Barnes & Noble to choose a novel for me. I said, "Get me something light & fun. You know, from those nice book displays they always have in the middle of the aisles! Get a paperback that will be easy reading!"
He did as he was told: he found a light paperback from the display table. It's not his fault that the book he chose, If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster, is the stupidest, most vapid and irritating thing I've read in...oh...ever.
(Damn you, forty book challenge! Any other year I would have stopped after chapter one, but nooooo...I have to read forty books! I don't have time to waste on stopping something once I've started!)
The premise of the novel is...why am I even going into this? I hated the book. I don't think you should read it. If you want to read it after reading this review, you can go look at the synopsis on Amazon. Or you can have my copy! For free!
Book #10 - The People of the Book
My aunt and uncle, who are famous (in our family, at least) for having impeccable taste in books, gave me The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. It's the (imagined) story of the (real) "Sarajevo Haggadah" -- an illuminated manuscript from the mid-1300s that tells the Passover story -- the book's journey across Europe, and its improbable survival through the Holocaust, the war in Sarajevo, the Spanish Inquisition, and so on.
I loved the book, the characters, the narrative. I love books about books. I love books about people who love books. I love reading about Jewry through history. I've read several other of Brooks' books (Year of Wonders - about the plague; March - the story of the dad from Little Women, and his war experience). Always, I'm a little wary of the premise of her novels, thinking maybe the book is going to be a little cute or a little forced, and instead, she always delights. Smart, interesting, gripping books.
I loved the book, the characters, the narrative. I love books about books. I love books about people who love books. I love reading about Jewry through history. I've read several other of Brooks' books (Year of Wonders - about the plague; March - the story of the dad from Little Women, and his war experience). Always, I'm a little wary of the premise of her novels, thinking maybe the book is going to be a little cute or a little forced, and instead, she always delights. Smart, interesting, gripping books.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Book #9 - The Magicians
My book group chose The Magicians by Lev Grossman as the book for April. A dyed-in-the-wool Harry Potter fan, I was afraid it was going to be a Hogwarts rip-off. The premise is that a kid from Brooklyn, en route to his Yale college interview, gets rerouted and ends up going to magic college. I was skeptical.
Much to my delight, The Magicians is wonderful. Partially an homage to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, partially a novel of adolescent discontent and yearning, partially a truly fantastical and gripping adventure novel -- I absolutely loved it. I can't wait to talk about it at book group!
Much to my delight, The Magicians is wonderful. Partially an homage to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, partially a novel of adolescent discontent and yearning, partially a truly fantastical and gripping adventure novel -- I absolutely loved it. I can't wait to talk about it at book group!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Book #8 - Why We Broke Up
I just read Daniel Handler's new YA novel, Why We Broke Up. (For the uninitiated, Daniel Handler = Lemony Snicket) This novel was illustrated by Maira Kalman (who, I'm learning from her website, just illustrated an edition of Michael Pollan's wonderful book, Food Rules).
It's the story of Min, "arty" high school girl who's fascinated with movies (and as we've learned, those of us reading this blog, I'm not so much with the movies, so I was easily a third of the way through the book before I realized all the film/actor/Hollywood references she made were the product of Daniel Handler's carefully articulated make-believe movie world...) and her unlikely romance with Ed, the co-captain of the basketball team.
Reading this was like reliving (in the most painful and joyous and agonizing and ecstatic ways) high school. If nothing else, THIS BOOK makes me glad I'm turning forty, and not fourteen.
Great book.
It's the story of Min, "arty" high school girl who's fascinated with movies (and as we've learned, those of us reading this blog, I'm not so much with the movies, so I was easily a third of the way through the book before I realized all the film/actor/Hollywood references she made were the product of Daniel Handler's carefully articulated make-believe movie world...) and her unlikely romance with Ed, the co-captain of the basketball team.
Reading this was like reliving (in the most painful and joyous and agonizing and ecstatic ways) high school. If nothing else, THIS BOOK makes me glad I'm turning forty, and not fourteen.
Great book.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Book #7 - It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy
God bless Laurie Notaro. No one makes me laugh harder. Reading the hilarious essays in her newest collection, It Looked Different on the Model: Epic Tales of Impending Shame and Infamy, I laughed out loud till I cried, and I tried breathlessly to explain to the strangers in the lunch room what on earth was so funny. Here are some examples:
On trying on clothes at fancy stores:
",,,During my most recent visit to Anthropologie, the lights were so audacious I wanted to ask the dressing-room girl if she could turn the setting down from its current 'Cruel' to the next level, 'Barbaric.' ... In the Anthropologie mirror, I saw wrinkles, dents, flaps, bumps and something that caused me to say to myself, 'I hope that's a tumor and not a horn.'"
On kids:
"...[my nephew] Nicholas had just gotten into honors math, which was exciting because now someone in our family besides my father could do fractions, and having an understudy would come in very handy when cutting a birthday cake. [My sister] told me that he had also joined band and had taken up the clarinet, which we were less excited about. Not that playing a clarinet is a bad thing, but in a year, when the kid got braces, if he was walking down the street wearing a Mathletes shirt and carrying a clarinet, even I would have to beat him up."
On vans:
"On the way out to the parking lot, my mother pointed to an Econoline three spaces away from our station wagon. 'Don't ever walk next to a van, unless being kidnapped is your goal for the day,' she said, as she dragged my sister by her arm beyond a fifteen-foot radius of the vehicle. 'Only weirdos drive vans. It's not normal.'"
On coming from a family of non-huggers:
"My father staged a coup in 2000 and started to kiss people hello and goodbye on the cheek, a move that I could only assume was generated on a trip to Italy. We all just tried to take it very lightly and not get too worked up about it, since they were basically air kisses; he also put up a red, white and green sign in his garage that said, PARKING FOR ITALIANS ONLY. He was clearly feeling for the Motherland. We sort of brushed it off when he started incorporating he Psych Hug, which was putting his hand on our shoulder right before leaning in for the kids.s Not a full hug, but just enough of a wrestling move that you couldn't get easily away without collapsing or igniting a jet-pack."
Man, she's funny.
On trying on clothes at fancy stores:
",,,During my most recent visit to Anthropologie, the lights were so audacious I wanted to ask the dressing-room girl if she could turn the setting down from its current 'Cruel' to the next level, 'Barbaric.' ... In the Anthropologie mirror, I saw wrinkles, dents, flaps, bumps and something that caused me to say to myself, 'I hope that's a tumor and not a horn.'"
On kids:
"...[my nephew] Nicholas had just gotten into honors math, which was exciting because now someone in our family besides my father could do fractions, and having an understudy would come in very handy when cutting a birthday cake. [My sister] told me that he had also joined band and had taken up the clarinet, which we were less excited about. Not that playing a clarinet is a bad thing, but in a year, when the kid got braces, if he was walking down the street wearing a Mathletes shirt and carrying a clarinet, even I would have to beat him up."
On vans:
"On the way out to the parking lot, my mother pointed to an Econoline three spaces away from our station wagon. 'Don't ever walk next to a van, unless being kidnapped is your goal for the day,' she said, as she dragged my sister by her arm beyond a fifteen-foot radius of the vehicle. 'Only weirdos drive vans. It's not normal.'"
On coming from a family of non-huggers:
"My father staged a coup in 2000 and started to kiss people hello and goodbye on the cheek, a move that I could only assume was generated on a trip to Italy. We all just tried to take it very lightly and not get too worked up about it, since they were basically air kisses; he also put up a red, white and green sign in his garage that said, PARKING FOR ITALIANS ONLY. He was clearly feeling for the Motherland. We sort of brushed it off when he started incorporating he Psych Hug, which was putting his hand on our shoulder right before leaning in for the kids.s Not a full hug, but just enough of a wrestling move that you couldn't get easily away without collapsing or igniting a jet-pack."
Man, she's funny.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
On Goals
Many goals we set are relatively arbitrary: lose five pounds (why five? why not four? why not seven?); get to work by nine (why 9:00? why not 8:43? why not 9:13?).
Some are set by an external construct (a race you've signed up for; a fun idea that intrigued you), but really, these goals are internally set, internally mandated, internally managed.
If you do something crazy like set up a blog (where people can/will track your progress) or confide in your colleagues (who might ask you how things are going), then you are more accountable for these arbitrary goals, but it doesn't make them any less arbitrary.
This is all a (relatively) long way of saying that I don't love my forty.forty goals. I love the book one, so much! This goal has already actively changed my habits. I watch less TV. I try to get away for 20 minutes at lunch so I can read my novel. I love thinking & talking about what I'm reading, and what I might read next. It's all good. (And I might not reach the goal, and I don't really care – I am still enjoying it!)
It's the movie thing! Ugh. Movies. They take SO FREAKING LONG. You can't (easily) split them up over four-seven days, like you can with a book. You have to just BE THERE, watching that MOVIE the whole time. It feels like an unpleasant amount of pressure.
Am considering the following:
- Downgrading my movie goal to something more manageable (20? 10?)
- Swapping my movie goal for a running miles per month goal
- Accepting suggestions for some other cool thing
Thoughts?
Book #6 -- V is for Vengeance
After catching up (albeit a little late) on the previous Sue Grafton novel, U is for Undertow, I then read V is for Vengeance, Sue Grafton's latest.
A concept Grafton has latched onto – maybe to the detriment of the novels? Maybe it makes them richer? - is the shifting narrator. For ages, only Kinsey Millhone spoke in these books. Now, Grafton introduces the perspectives of lots of other people – sometimes the bad guy, sometimes the victim, whatever. It adds to the mystery / intrigue, but definitely changes the tone of the books.
Nonetheless (or "notwithstanding"), I love the series, and will eagerly read the next (last?) four. What will Grafton do next??
Respectfully Submitted,
KCSummertime
A concept Grafton has latched onto – maybe to the detriment of the novels? Maybe it makes them richer? - is the shifting narrator. For ages, only Kinsey Millhone spoke in these books. Now, Grafton introduces the perspectives of lots of other people – sometimes the bad guy, sometimes the victim, whatever. It adds to the mystery / intrigue, but definitely changes the tone of the books.
Nonetheless (or "notwithstanding"), I love the series, and will eagerly read the next (last?) four. What will Grafton do next??
Respectfully Submitted,
KCSummertime
Monday, March 5, 2012
Book #5 - A Visit from the Goon Squad
I recently started hanging around a book group, primarily because my favorite professor from college is also participating. I had explained that I was only reading new books this year (so I'd skipped their reading of the amazing & wonderful Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which I'd read years ago), and was thus nominated to propose a book for March.
From the books I put forth, Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad was the book chosen, and I'm so glad. Complicated, interesting, timely, musical, funny, bleak and smart. So pleased to have read it; so excited to discuss it with bright & engaged people!
From the books I put forth, Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad was the book chosen, and I'm so glad. Complicated, interesting, timely, musical, funny, bleak and smart. So pleased to have read it; so excited to discuss it with bright & engaged people!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Book #4 - Potty Train in Three Days
Just finished Potty Train in Three Days. With the other potty book I read, I'm working my way towards a Major in Potty Philosophy.
This one had such realistic and easy-to-follow advice as, "[T]he parent or caregiver needs to be on duty at all times...to make the potty training period effective. All day long, this person needs to be alert to the child's behavior. Even spending a moment or two away from the child can set him up for failure."
Ah, OK. No problem.
I'm done reading these stupid books. Someone send me extra paper towels, because I think we're going to need them.
This one had such realistic and easy-to-follow advice as, "[T]he parent or caregiver needs to be on duty at all times...to make the potty training period effective. All day long, this person needs to be alert to the child's behavior. Even spending a moment or two away from the child can set him up for failure."
Ah, OK. No problem.
I'm done reading these stupid books. Someone send me extra paper towels, because I think we're going to need them.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Book #3: U is for Undertow
This the 21st Sue Grafton novel I've read; I've been faithful through the whole Kinsey Millhone alphabet mystery series. I'm not a maniacal mystery reader...many of them are too grisly for me (like in the Patricia Cornwell novels) or too thematic (like in the horse mysteries) or too incredibly awfully written (like in the increasingly disappointing Diane Mott Davidson catering mysteries, and the really depressingly horrible Rita Mae Brown mysteries).
But these alphabet mysteries are great. Grafton is amazing at maintaining Kinsey's timeline: it's only 1988 in U is for Undertow. Despite the fact that all these technological advances have arrived to (ostensibly) ease a detective's life by 2012, Grafton has stayed true to the library visits, criss-cross directories, and other paper/people-based research.
Really, the most shocking thing is that this ISN'T Grafton's newest novel. V is for Vengeance is her newest (and I have that on the kindle as well...). I missed U for a variety of reasons: often my family & friends & I will share hardcover novels, to amortize the cost, and when it was my turn for U, I heard that it was about child abduction, and I wasn't mentally prepared for it, so I gave up my place in line, and never reclaimed it.
Nonetheless, glad to have read it! Will read V very soon!
But these alphabet mysteries are great. Grafton is amazing at maintaining Kinsey's timeline: it's only 1988 in U is for Undertow. Despite the fact that all these technological advances have arrived to (ostensibly) ease a detective's life by 2012, Grafton has stayed true to the library visits, criss-cross directories, and other paper/people-based research.
Really, the most shocking thing is that this ISN'T Grafton's newest novel. V is for Vengeance is her newest (and I have that on the kindle as well...). I missed U for a variety of reasons: often my family & friends & I will share hardcover novels, to amortize the cost, and when it was my turn for U, I heard that it was about child abduction, and I wasn't mentally prepared for it, so I gave up my place in line, and never reclaimed it.
Nonetheless, glad to have read it! Will read V very soon!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Movie #3: MacGruber
MacGruber is one of those movies filled with inappropriate jokes, gross-out sight-gags, raunchiness, stupidness. In short, my favorite kind of movie. In the grand tradition of some of my all-time faves, like Role Models and Old School (though not as good as either of those classics), MacGruber was silly and funny and thoroughly enjoyable.
I used to watch serious and important movies. I watched Saving Private Ryan from the 3rd row of a massive movie theatre, and still kind of have a headache from it. When I went to see The Fisher King in high school, I had to sit on the curb and weep for 20 minutes before I was composed enough to drive home. Maybe, over the course of this movie and book adventure, I will dip my toe back in the waters of serious film. But for now, I'm composing my Must Watch List...next up: Bridesmaids! Or maybe The Hangover II! Or Superbad!!!
Recommendations welcome.
I used to watch serious and important movies. I watched Saving Private Ryan from the 3rd row of a massive movie theatre, and still kind of have a headache from it. When I went to see The Fisher King in high school, I had to sit on the curb and weep for 20 minutes before I was composed enough to drive home. Maybe, over the course of this movie and book adventure, I will dip my toe back in the waters of serious film. But for now, I'm composing my Must Watch List...next up: Bridesmaids! Or maybe The Hangover II! Or Superbad!!!
Recommendations welcome.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Book #2 - Cutting for Stone
If I had known I was going to take on a Read-A-Lot-Of-Books challenge, I might not have chosen the 640-page novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. So lucky for me then, that I didn't know about it, because then I would have delayed reading this wonderful, complex, challenging, vivid novel!
It follows the life of twin brothers, Marion (the narrator) and Shiva, born in unusual circumstances in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the mid-1950's. I would do it a disservice to try to summarize it--that's not my strong suit. But I loved the book, and highly recommend it.
My sister has been to Addis, and reading Cutting for Stone gave me another view on what she's described about the city and the needs there. Added bonus: At the end of the novel, when Verghese thanks all the people who helped him, he gives a shout out to Dr. Rick Hodes, an amazing and inspirational physician living in Ethiopia. Read about him! Give money to the JDC, the charitable organization that supports Dr. Rick's work!
Now I am going to read something quick and trivial.
It follows the life of twin brothers, Marion (the narrator) and Shiva, born in unusual circumstances in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the mid-1950's. I would do it a disservice to try to summarize it--that's not my strong suit. But I loved the book, and highly recommend it.
My sister has been to Addis, and reading Cutting for Stone gave me another view on what she's described about the city and the needs there. Added bonus: At the end of the novel, when Verghese thanks all the people who helped him, he gives a shout out to Dr. Rick Hodes, an amazing and inspirational physician living in Ethiopia. Read about him! Give money to the JDC, the charitable organization that supports Dr. Rick's work!
Now I am going to read something quick and trivial.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Movie #2 - Inventing The Abbots
While folding XX,XXX loads of laundry tonight, I watched Inventing The Abbots starring Joachim Phoenix (and I am old enough to still think of him as River's little brother), Billy Crudup (who, I learn from our friends at Wikipedia, grew up in Manhasset, just east of my DH's home town), Liv Tyler (who speaks in a monotone, but seems kindly), and Jennifer Connolly (who I thought was the wife in Seabiscuit, but it turns out, that was Elizabeth Banks! Who knew??).
I've read a number of Sue Miller novels (she wrote the short story the movie was based on) and I was kind of dismayed that it was such an anti-sister plot. Really, sisters? I mean, I know Billy Crudup is adorable, but must you? sigh
Another movie for my personal record books, but not one I'm going to urge others to see. But think of all the laundry I got folded!
I've read a number of Sue Miller novels (she wrote the short story the movie was based on) and I was kind of dismayed that it was such an anti-sister plot. Really, sisters? I mean, I know Billy Crudup is adorable, but must you? sigh
Another movie for my personal record books, but not one I'm going to urge others to see. But think of all the laundry I got folded!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Book #1 - The Potty Boot Camp
If I weren't participating in a (completely optional, self-inflicted) contest to try to read a bunch of books, I wouldn't even count this AS a book. But I am, so I am.
I read The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers by Suzanne Riffel. This incredibly short, mostly crappy (pun intended) book is meant to give me the will to actually potty train my 3-year old boy. Not sure that it did that, but at least I'm 1/40 of the way to my Book Reading Goal for 2012!
Wish me luck...
I read The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers by Suzanne Riffel. This incredibly short, mostly crappy (pun intended) book is meant to give me the will to actually potty train my 3-year old boy. Not sure that it did that, but at least I'm 1/40 of the way to my Book Reading Goal for 2012!
Wish me luck...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Movie #1: The Muppets Take Manhattan
It is highly likely that I saw The Muppets Take Manhattan when it came out; I was a big Muppet fan, and was definitely the target demographic for that movie on its release. But we just watched it and it didn't ring the faintest of bells, so I'm going to say this is a new movie for me.
Favorite cameo: Gregory Hines. I'm a huge fan since seeing him (twice? thrice?) in Jelly's Last Jam on Broadway. I am still--nine years later!--so shocked and sad that he died.
Favorite cameo: Gregory Hines. I'm a huge fan since seeing him (twice? thrice?) in Jelly's Last Jam on Broadway. I am still--nine years later!--so shocked and sad that he died.
Monday, January 30, 2012
My variation on fiftyfifty.me - 40/40 40 me!
A work colleague led me to the website http://www.fiftyfifty.me - a challenge to read fifty (new) books and watch fifty (new) movies in one year. An interesting challenge, and certainly a stretch. However, in recognition of my *gulp* 40th birthday, I'm customizing the challenge: 40 books, 40 movies in celebration of turning 40. So here goes!
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