Sunday, May 26, 2019

Sunday Stealing



Authors you never get tired of reading I love Nora Ephron's essays. And her novel, Heartburn.

A book you bought for the cover, and discovered it was better than you thought
Jackie, Janet and Lee by J. Randy Taraborelli. I didn't buy it -- it was a gift from my friend Henry -- but I didn't expect much. Taraborelli can be a  hack. But I loved the cover shot of three white-gloved Bouvier women marching purposefully toward a society photographer. And actually, it was an interesting read. When one reads about JBKO (which I do obsessively), you get a lot about her relationship with the Kennedys. But she was only Jackie Kennedy from 1953 to 1968. She was a Bouvier for all her life. And learning more about her relationship with her sister and (especially) her mother was enlightening.


 

A book that made you laugh and cry, and made you depressed
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I loved our canine narrator, Enzo. He made me laugh and the ending made me cry. And the rather misogynistic and unnecessary subplot about a rape accusation left me depressed. The book didn't need it and would have been better without it.



A book that was a pleasant surprise
Kwizgiver has some very good book posts, and she turned me on to the Spellman Saga. It's a series of six very funny detective stories about a family of private investigators. It consistently delighted me.

A book everyone loves that you don’t
The DaVinci Code. Hated it. Only finished it because two of my friends raved about it and I thought it simply had to get better.

A book with a great sidekick that you like more than the hero
I don't know that I like Hawk better than Spenser, but I like him a lot. You'll find Hawk and Spenser in the Robert B. Parker series, which has been ably taken over by Ace Atkins.

A book that helped you through a difficult time
Dance While You Can by Shirley MacLaine. I got it as a gift for my birthday in 1991, but didn't have time to read it at the time. I happened to grab it while my dealing with my father's illness and death, not realizing how much of the book is devoted to her father. The universality of what I was feeling helped. Everyone goes through this, in one form or another. We all had parents, we all have siblings, we all have family stuff.

A book that taught you something valuable
JFK: Reckless Youth, by Nigel Hamilton. Lesson: no matter what a life looks like from the outside, you have no idea how it feels on the inside.

A book or series that it took you awhile to get into
I got nothing for this. If I don't like the first book I read in a series, I don't stick around.

A fictional character you’d love to have to dinner.
Can I invite a couple? I'd like Jo March and her beau, Professor Bhaer. I met them in Little Women. I love them.


 

5 comments:

  1. great, well thought out answers. All of them. Let me know when you and Jo are going to get together....

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  2. The book everyone loves that I don’t would be the rare example of the movie being better than the book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

    We are going to the zoo with Mr and Mrs Dursley, Henry's non-magical uncle and aunt, his cousin Dudley, Dudley's friend and Harry.

    That is about as far as I managed to read.

    The film omitted Dudley's friend. Dudley and his friend making Harry's life more miserable really wasn't necessary. It was very apparent Dudley disliked Harry.

    And we are introduced to the wizard world, to Hermione and Ron who are very cute in their school uniforms and Hogwarts.

    Also in the first and second film greater care seems to be taken with Hagrid using camera angles to enhance his giant height. These are the two movies directed by Chris Columbus with musical score by John Williams.

    My friend Spewgie loved the Harry Potter books.

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  3. "Dance while you can" sounds like good advice for everyone but most especially those of us heading toward our golden years. You never know what is going to derail you. Jo March is a good pick for a meal companion.

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  4. Jackie, Janet and Lee looks like a good read, I'll have to hit the library and see if they have it. have a great week!

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  5. Thanks for the shout out! :)

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