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? Hollywood: The Oral History compiled by Jeanine Bassinger and Sam Wasson. 700+ pages of reminiscences from actors, directors, screenwriters, producers ... the story of Hollywood told by the people who created it. I just cracked it open and I'm already behind in my reading. I joined an online book club and we're discussing it ... soon. (I noted the date somewhere. If only I could remember where. Maybe I won't be discussing it. I mean, if I can't find the date and the link ...)

2. What did you recently finish reading? Murder in the Ball Park: A Nero Wolfe Mystery by Robert Goldsborough. New York, ca 1950, is in turmoil. A politician is murdered at the Polo Grounds, during the 4th inning of the Dodgers vs. the Giants. It's  shocking event that presents the NYPD with an almost insurmountable problem: a high-profile murder with tens of thousands of eye witnesses and a ton of suspects.

Cases that confound the police are the specialty of Nero Wolfe. I love being in Wolfe's world: his gourmet meals, exotic plants, idiosyncratic schedule, colorful employees. My favorite is Archie Goodwin, his "legman," out there in the city, cracking wise and collecting clues.

This is a fine effort. Not one of the best of the series -- I seemed to figure out the plot twist before Wolfe or even Archie, and that's just wrong -- but still a fine time.

 

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

 

Fields of Europe®

That's what 1800Flowers calls this bouquet. Did you know that fiber ribbon is called "raffia?" I didn't, but I do now. Anyway, this glass vase of flowers is on its way to my friend John's hospital room.

He's now "stable and improving." So much so that he's been moved from the ICU and into his own room. He has multiple health issues -- I know about congestive heart failure and diabetes, and I suspect clinical depression -- and they are going to run more tests to prioritize them and develop a treatment plan.

I heard all of these from Gregory ... who heard it from Jerry, John's brother. Jerry lives in Boston, but he's an RN so he understands better than us what he's hearing and what follow up questions to ask. 

We have been asked not to call the hospital ourselves so the nurses can concentrate on patient care. John also requested "no visitors." This amused me. Like I would go downtown to visit your grumpy old ass? (I almost wrote that on the card.)

But clearly he's going to recover from this. That is my takeaway. That is everything.

 

Teaser Tuesday

Here's how to play:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

I haven't played this in more than a decade and there's no longer anywhere to link it to, but it seems like it would be fun to revisit so here we are.

I am plowing through Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson. I am enjoying it, but it's daunting. 768 pages! 

From Chapter 1, here's Charlton Heston spinning a tale about filmmakers traveling east and ending up in Hollywood:

(Director Cecil B.) DeMille always told the story that he and his group headed west to find yearlong sunshine, heading for Arizona to make a Western. When their train got to Flagstaff, it was pissing down rain ... DeMille got off the train, looked around, and said, "This isn't the weather they promised us. Let's get back on the train and keep going." So, according to DeMille, if it hadn't been raining in Flagstaff, "Hollywood" would now be "Flagstaff."