WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Lincoln's Last Trial by Dan Abrams. I was going to read this during covid lockdown. While I went through 47 books in 2021, this was not among them. I'm not sure why, but now Dan and Abe get their moment with me.

 

Dan Abrams does this: he chooses long-past trials with well-known lawyers or litigants and weaves them into easy-to-follow tales, relying as much on court transcripts as the recollections of participants. Since these books focus more on the trials than the crimes themselves, we're left to decide whether justice was done.

 

This time Mr. Lincoln takes center stage. He was well on his way to becoming a national figure when he chose to defend a Springfield boy named Peachy Quinn, accused of killing Greek Crafton, another Springfield native. Both were known to Lincoln and, in fact, to most folks in town. Springfield was divided. Either Peachy was unjustly accused of murder when he was just defending himself against a much larger man, or Greek had been viciously slashed by a man who could easily have just walked away but instead brandished a weapon.

 

Yeah, I know how this ends. What I'm enjoying is the journey this book is taking me on. I've been to Springfield many times and have visited the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office. I've walked where Abe walked, from his office to the courthouse, or home, or to the Globe Tavern.

 

Abrams and his co-author Fisher are showing me Abe as he ends one chapter of his life and gets ready to embark on another. It's emotionally resonant because as I go through this story I know something Abe doesn't – he is about to leave Springfield and the law forever and he has only 7 years to live. I'm looking at a man on the brink of immortality, and I'm fascinated by how his mind works.

 

2. What did you recently finish reading?  In Pieces by Sally Field. This book was not at all what I expected. Not at all! (Even though Country Dew tried to warn me.) Yes, she covers off on her major roles and I enjoyed those parts. Her romance with Burt Reynolds gets a lot of space, too. But mostly this book is about her family – the one she was born into and the one she created. She's an actor, a dedicated one and her craft/passion saved her life, but she's also a daughter, a sister, a mother and a granddaughter.

 

There is little joy in this book because Sally Field had a far more complicated life than I realized. It's not an easy read. But it's well written and authentic and it touched me. Sally's relationship with her mother reminded me so much of my mom and me that it was disturbing.

 

I recommend this book because it had an impact on me. But be warned.

3. What will you read next? Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden. It's time for some chills and thrills.

 

  

 

 

 

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? In Pieces by Sally Field. It's not an exaggeration to say I grew up on her. My little friends and I loved watching Gidget, especially to see how Sally Field was wearing her hair. We were so young we didn't understand then that it takes a week to shoot episode and she had hairstylists tending to her. Then there was The Flying Nun. We all loved that show, too, and in those long-ago days, networks marketed tie-in paperback books about our favorite characters. I have an indelible memory of myself the summer I was 11, reading The Miracle of San Tanco, a book purchased at the drug store with my own money, in the backyard.

 

So I came into this emotionally invested. Add to that, Sally Field writes very well, and you've got me devouring this book in greedy gulps. 

 

By the way, Sally looks back on Gidget fondly but hated doing The Flying Nun. I've rewatched both as an adult and she was right. Gidget had actual plots whereas The Flying Nun was dopey, aimed to appeal to "the whole family" and by trying to be all things to all people it ended up as blah. I imagine in today's world, where children can choose from PBS and streaming content aimed created specifically for them, The Flying Nun could never have exist. 

 

It's not the worst show she did, though. The Girl With Something Extra lasted one season and I don't think I saw more than an episode or two. It was that bad. It'll be interesting to see if Sally addresses that colossal turd in her memoir. 

 

2. What did you recently finish reading?  Rescued by David Rosenfelt.  I enjoy this series so much that this book made me mad. The characters are well drawn, the dialog is alternately heart tugging and funny, the setting (Paterson, NJ) is unique, the murder trial held my interest but damn! He did it again! Rosenfelt puts our hero, Andy Carpenter, in the middle of a super violent, complex plot filled with multinational intrigue. WHY? What makes Paterson, NJ, such a hotbed of terrorist activity? 

 

I watch Dateline. I read the news. Most murders happen because an argument turned violent ... or somebody caught somebody cheating ... or somebody owed the wrong person too much money ... or a battered spouse decides they just can't take it anymore. Shadowy hitmen with code names and access to weapons of mass destruction are not the norm – unless, of course, you happen to live in Rosenfelt's Paterson, NJ. For real, every one of Andy Carpenter's cases is thick with Boris-and-Natasha bullshit. At times I rolled my eyes so far back I was looking at my own brain.

 

Just once I'd like Andy to get a case where he realizes his client is set up (I get that Andy's client has to be wrongly accused) over an insurance scam or to eliminate a business rival. I would sincerely love that. 

3. What will you read next? Lincoln's Last Trial by Dan Abrams, because sometimes I just want to spend time with Abe. 

 

  

 

 

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Rescued by David Rosenfelt. Andy Carpenter (aka my fantasy boyfriend) is a reluctant defense attorney. He's very good at his chosen profession, he just doesn't feel much like practicing it. He unexpectedly came into a lot of money and would prefer to spend his time rescuing abandoned dogs and hanging out at his favorite sports bar. And really, wouldn't you?

 

But he finds himself back in the courtroom when a truckload of dogs is discovered near his home in Paterson, NJ. Turns out the dogs were being relocated to shelters in the eastern US but, uh-oh, the truck driver has been murdered. Dogs? A dead body? This is a job for Andy Carpenter!

 

I love Andy and the cast of characters Rosenfelt surrounds him with, so I have high hopes for this one. I just hope that we manage to avoid international intrigue this time around. For some reason, Andy can never get a murder that was based on a cheating spouse or a dishonest business partner. There's usually multinational intrigue of some sort and this exhausts me. It's as though Rosenfelt is allergic to keeping it small and domestic which, let's face it, most murders are.

 

2. What did you recently finish reading?  Harlow in Hollywood by Darrell Rooney and Mark A. Viera. My relationship to Harlow is completely the opposite of mine to her blonde goddess successor, Marilyn Monroe. With Marilyn, her biography preceded her work. With Harlow, I've been watching her movies and that's made me curious about the woman. So I'm glad I picked up this book. It's as much about her films as about her life and will help me choose which ones I'd like to watch next.

 

Where Marilyn was born unwanted into poverty and neglect, Jean Harlow was part of a middle-class, even affluent, family with deep ties to Chicago. She had grandparents and a mother who loved her. Too much. In fact, by the end of this book, I was thinking Harlow would have been better off with less maternal attention. Her mother was a frustrated and grasping woman who exploited her daughter and over-managed "their" career. The only one in Hollywood who didn't seem aware of this was Jean herself, who loved her mother unquestioningly and credited everything she achieved to her mother and God. 

 

Harlow was dead at 26, at the height of her fame. She was a gifted comedienne and a professional, beloved onset from everyone from her director on down to the grips and studio security guards. She took her work seriously but never herself. I would have loved to see how she transitioned away from glamor roles and I feel cheated that I'll never know. 

3. What will you read next? I don't know.

 

  

 

Book Fair in Review

I clocked 8 volunteer hours leading up to this year's annual library book sale. I built boxes for the book sorters to sort into – I am an artist with a tape gun – and then I packed up two boxes of children's books for sale up on the third floor. 

 

Thinking of those labors makes me smile because I actually got into an argument over A Separate Peace. Someone had slipped it in with the children's books. Obviously I thought this was a mistake and asked everyone – the room of volunteers, no one in particular – where it belonged. One of the sorters who took her sorting very seriously insisted that since it was a Young Adult book, it was in the right place. I couldn't help it, putting this tale of disability, war and death in the same box as as Horrible Harry and The Green Slime and Llama Llama Loves to Read just struck me as funny. So now I've not only questioned her, I have laughed. It was a little tense. (I still think it's funny.) 

My efforts earned me the right to peruse the books that were left after the sale and just take whatever I want. I took two books for my aunt and two for Little Violet. I'm especially excited for Cinco Monitos Leen en la Cama (5 Little Monkeys Read in Bed). Her biological grandfather is Mexican born and likes spending time with her. I hope they'll enjoy sharing this book. I also grabbed a humorous retrospective on Beatlemania for my oldest friend. She's putting effort into our relationship and I want to respond in kind.

 

And now for my annual observation.  Every year there's a book donated in bigger numbers than any other; a book many of my neighbors bought and then decided not to keep. I suspect it's a tome chosen by local book clubs. This year's "winner" seems remarkably random, as it was originally published back in 2003, but I found multiple copies not only on the Humor table but also in Politics and Current Affairs. Its primacy cannot be denied.

2026: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken 

2025: Living History by Hillary Clinton 

2024: Water for Elephants

2023: My Life by Bill Clinton

2022, 2019, 2018 and 2017: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2016: The Help

2015: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

2014: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2013: The DaVinci Code

2012: Sixkill (a Spenser Mystery)

2011: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

2010: Scarlett, the Sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind

2009: My Life by Bill Clinton

2008: The DaVinci Code

2007: The Nanny Diaries

2006: The Corrections

 

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Harlow in Hollywood by Darrell Rooney and Mark A. Viera. I've recently discovered Jean Harlow, the original platinum blonde, the bombshell who paved the way for Marilyn and Madonna. 

 

Marilyn is better known than Harlow and superficially they had a lot in common. They each personified sex and glamor for their era. Dyed blonde hair and provocative clothes. Teenage marriages that were best forgotten. Lots of scandal and pearl clutching in their personal lives, balanced with tremendous charm and humor onscreen. But here's where they differ: Marilyn dealt in fragility, Jean was a tough dame. The "Material Girl" video aside, Madonna has patterned her persona more on Harlow than Marilyn. Unlike Marilyn, Madonna has never been anyone's idea of a naive waif.

 

So how did Harlean Carpenter become Jean Harlow, the icon whose influence is still felt today, almost 90 years after her death?  That's what Rooney and Viera promise to tell me. So far, book seems less like a recitation of facts about her life and more about placing her life in context of 1930s Hollywood and America.

 

2. What did you recently finish reading?  Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. Isabel Spellman is the oldest daughter in a ridiculously dysfunctional family of private investigators. Izzy drinks too much, watches too much TV and never ceases to disappoint her parents. Yet she is actually quite competent at her job. She's also a very good, very funny narrator.

 

I've been rereading this delightful series in order. I enjoy each volume individually but I especially enjoyed this one because of how the characters have evolved. Izzy has become (gulp!) introspective. Baby sister Rae has left the nest and headed off to college. Oldest brother David has gone from sartorially splendid attorney to stay-at-home dad. "The unit," as the three Spellman kids refer to their parents, are adjusting to an empty(-ish) nest and preparing for retirement.

 

I enjoyed this warm, funny and bittersweet book so much I almost reached for the next one in the series. But that next one is also the last one, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to the Spellman clan yet. 

3. What will you read next? I don't know.

 

  

 

Sunday Stealing

4th of July Questions

 
1) If you could attend a 4th of July fireworks display anywhere in the United States, where would you choose? I hate to sound poopy, but I have no interest in watching the fireworks at a major event. I did that once, years and years ago. My friend Kathy and I went to Navy Pier to see the fireworks over Lake Michigan and they were pretty and all. But we had to get there really early – hours early – to be able to sit. On the cement. We were stuck there because if we got up we'd lose our place. On the cement. The show itself lasted 15 minutes. It was cool to see the colors reflected on the Lake. But it wasn't worth it. Where I live now, I can see the fireworks display from the suburb 3 miles southwest. All I have to do is look out my living room window. I know it's a mundane answer, but I'm good with this.

2) What book are you currently reading? Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. It's 5th in this series of entertaining cozy mysteries about a quirky family of private investigators. I'm enjoying it immensely.

3) What have you been listening to? Lots o' podcasts, Cubs-Cardinals.

 4) What shows or movies have you been watching? This weekend I'm going Presidential. I've found documentaries about FDR and JFK on Hulu. Then I'll watch Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln. All these programs have two things in common: the participation of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, who is my imaginary BFF, and they reassure me we can do better than the orange-hued convicted felon who tore down the East Wing and made a shit-ton on bitcoin.

 

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. I just finished a gritty, at times depressing, book that could only take place in Miami. How should I follow it? I'll go west! To San Francisco, a city that reminds me not at all of Miami. The Spellmans are many things, but they are not remotely gritty. So this just may be the change of pace I'm looking for. 

 

Isabel Spellman is the oldest daughter in a ridiculously dysfunctional family of private investigators. Izzy drinks too much, watches too much TV and never ceases to disappoint her parents. Yet she is actually quite competent at her job. She's also a very good, very funny narrator.

 

We've all heard of cozy mysteries, but these are zany. As in the other Spellman books, Isabel is juggling legitimate casework from a paying client (a wife who wants to know how her husband spends his days) and her wacky family. This book introduces us to Gertrude, her boyfriend's mother and Izzy's newest drinking buddy. These books are funny but also very affectionate. Loony as they are, I wish I'd been born a Spellman.

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Act of Betrayal by Edna Buchanan. Coco Chanel famously said, "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off." I wish Edna Buchanan had taken this sentiment to heart and eliminated one of the subplots in Act of Betrayal.

 

Our heroine, Britt Montero, is a reporter on the crime beat for a major Miami daily. She's covering a car bomb that killed a local media personality, trying to find what linked the disappearances of junior high school aged boys, and working on a profile piece about a charismatic Cuban who has become a mover and shaker in Miami politics. Speaking of moving and shaking, a hurricane is coming. That's the thing about weather: it's a force to be reckoned with, whether you have time to deal with it or not.

 

That's plenty to keep a reader engaged. Yet Buchanan loads the book up with newsroom gossip, her best friend's unsatisfying love affair, and Aunt Odalis' health problems. It was too much. It annoyed me to be taken away from the real action. Buchanan should have made like Chanel and lost at least one of these subplots.

 

Also, one of the stories Britt is working on is, as they say, "ripped from the headlines" and based on one of Chicago's most notorious crimes ever. Britt is wrong when she says repeatedly that this is the biggest story of her career but because of the hurricane no one will notice. I'd like to assure her: we have many weather events here but the name of that real-life perpetrator – I won't use it here because I don't want to spoil the book for you – won't be overshadowed. Maybe in 1997, when this book was written, no one foresaw the industry true crime would become. (In real life, the home of that monster became such a national magnet that after it was demolished, the address was changed to discourage gawkers.)

 

But these are quibbles. I found the end of the book, once the storm hit, truly un-put-down-able. 

3. What will you read next? I don't know.

 

  

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Act of Betrayal by Edna Buchanan. This is the fourth of the Britt Montero series and it's a thrill ride from the very beginning. Britt is a reporter on the crime beat for a major Miami daily. She's had a helluva morning, covering the death of a grandmother found in her own kitchen and a van accident that killed immigrants being transported illegally to a work site. She stops for lunch and as she contemplates the empanada purchased from a street vendor, Britt hears an explosion. Being a reporter, she doesn't run away, she runs toward it.

 

And we're off! The Britt Montero books are not cozy mysteries. They are shocking and violent, but also very human. Miami-born Britt is a thirty-something single, looking for love but not as hard as she pursues leads. Her best friend is Lottie Dane, a statuesque crime photographer transplanted to Miami from Texas. I like these women and their friendship.

 

Buchanan is a good writer, successfully creating a specific time and place: 1990s Miami. Very Crockett and Tubbs. Newspapers were still thriving, though very aware of competition from local news stations. Britt keeps a quarter in pocket all the time so she can use the nearest pay phone to check her office voicemail. (I kinda miss those days.)

 

2. What did you recently finish reading?  Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto. There have been more than 100 books written about Marilyn, her movies and her legacy. I'm glad I grabbed this one. Donald Spoto takes her seriously as a woman and an artist. He doesn't ladle on extra sensationalism or victimization because 1) those are baked in and 2) he respects her and us.  

 

This is a reread for me and I came away with a different emphasis this time. First, Marilyn worked very hard and kept improving. Because she was fired from her last movie and then died at 36 just weeks after, it's easy to assume she'd peaked. It's impossible to know, of course, but she had two new films on her horizon* and it's possible that, like Elizabeth Taylor, she could have become more than her looks and kept getting better. 

 

Second, she kept evolving as a person, too. Around the time she got a part in The Asphalt Jungle, she was struck me as selfish and unlikable. She was 23 and (to slip into today's vernacular) was couch surfing and using people. All exigence and ambition, anything to get by, anything to get a part. Over the next 13 years, she learned about herself and others. As she became more comfortable in her own skin, her generosity of spirit emerged and by the end of the book, I mourned this sweet woman.

 

Unfortunately, Marilyn's death seems to have become more important than her life. This book walks us through her final days and puts to rest many of the more tenacious and lurid rumors.  

3. What will you read next? I don't know.

 

  

 *Both movies were made with other actresses. Carroll Baker played Harlow and Shirley MacLaine starred in What a Way to Go.

 

 

Sunday Stealing

Shopping Day. What's on your shopping list from ...

1. Target or Walmart, or other superstore? I need new underwear, and Walmart carries my preferred brand.

2. Dollar Tree or Dollar General, or poundstretcher/99p store? Dollar Tree carries my favorite toilet paper. (Toilet paper and underwear! Such a glamorous shopping list!)

3. Best Buy or any other electronics/appliance store? I just bought a new TV, so I'm good there.  I suspect my refrigerator is on its last legs, so maybe this would be a good opportunity to check my options.

4. Book/music store? The buzzy new Maggie Haberman/Jonathan Swan book.

Bonus question! Where do you want to stop for lunch? Unlike the subject of the Haberman/Swan book, I haven't had McDonald's in forever. Let's do that.

 

 

Gratitude Challenge: Day 20

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 20: Something I accomplished today I took 13 books over to the library for the book sale. 4 hardcover, 9 paperbacks. I didn't volunteer today,* but I did on two previous Saturdays, and each time I went I donated CDs (32 in all). While I was there, I perused the donations and the work that had been done since my last stint. So many board games and jigsaw puzzles had arrived and this made me happy. They are a new addition to the book sale and I'm happy to see our community responded.

While I was wandering about, a very tall bearded man stuck his head in and asked what this room was. I explained and gave him one of the book sale flyers. I'm glad I was there for him. He's a schoolteacher from a nearby suburb and asked if he could participate. Of course! He said he has some of his own books to donate and was excited to buy games for his classroom. I showed him that on July 12, the last day of the sale, everything is free to schoolteachers as well as hospital and nursing home workers. I was going to show him the drop-off for donations after library hours, but he explained that since he was a school teacher and in summer, his time is all his own now, he can easily make the two trips – one before June 30 to drop off books and another on July 12 to pick up free games for next fall's students.

I'm grateful I was there for him. It gives me pleasure to help out my neighborhood library branch.

 

 *My chief contribution has always been to build boxes. We need countless boxes for sorting the books, and I am an artist with the tape gun.

WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Marilyn Monroe: The Biography by Donald Spoto. This is a reread for me. I was inspired to dig it out when I got an email from The Hollywood Roosevelt, which is the TCM Film Festival's mothership. This grand old hotel is celebrating Marilyn Monroe on the occasion of her 100th birthday this month. Then I saw a photo of Lisa K., a Los Angeles-based TCM fest fan who paid her respects by visiting Marilyn's old dressing room on the former Fox lot. So I thought it was time for me to take a moment and reflect on Marilyn. 

 

Her story has always touched me on a number of levels. I first discovered Marilyn when I was in high school. My feminism was awakening at just this time and I saw her as a cautionary tale. She did everything the patriarchy asked of her and it literally broke her. Then I set out to see as many of her movies as I could so I could assess her as an artist, not just a celebrity. Now I'm wondering what it is about her that makes her endure.

 

I first read this particular biography of Marilyn more than a decade ago and recall that Spoto treated his subject with respect. So far, I see I wasn't wrong.  

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Off the Menu by Stacy Ballis. This book was great on atmosphere. It feels very Chicago. But as a romance it was a yawn. It was slow, it had too many supporting characters and not enough action. Also, two of the main characters were shitty pet parents. I can't go into my gripes in detail without giving away too much of the plot, but I just didn't like two corners of the love triangle. The third? Him I found fascinating, even though I suspect I wasn't supposed to. He had some dimension and his character had an arc.

 

Am I sorry I picked this book up? Maybe. Ballis has a good reputation for chick-lit, and maybe this was just one of her weaker efforts. Someday I may give her another shot.

3. What will you read next? I don't know.