protecting your sanity through the careful application of porn

Movies and TV on DVD (mostly from Zip): February - April 2013

starfishchick — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:12:20 GMT

February
The Help
Herb & Dorothy (documentary)
Adventureland

March
The Pillars of the Earth (mini-series)
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (documentary)
Holy Motors
Muppet Treasure Island

April
Midnight in Paris
21 Jump Street
The Hour Series 1
Inside Job (documentary)
The Special Relationship
Magic Mike

The Help (2011)
I had read the book, and wasn't blown away, but I wanted to see this mostly-female story and I like a lot of the actresses in it. (Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek, etc.) It was OK. My issues with the film are the same as my issues with the book, so I guess I can't blame the film for that.

Herb & Dorothy (2009) (documentary)
This is a documentary about Herb and Dorothy Vogel, a postal worker and a librarian who spent 50+ collecting minimal and conceptual art. (Her salary was for rent and food - his was for art.) This was an interesting film, and they seem a sweet couple, though I must admit most of the art did nothing for me. (But that's OK, I don't have to own or even see any of it! You can if you want to, though, there's a bunch you can look at here: .) Part art history lesson, part biography. (Here's an article about the film, kind of a profile of Dorothy since Herb's passing: New Yorker profile, and here is a 2009 piece from the Washington Post about them as well here.

Adventureland (2009)
Jesse Eisenberg stars in this movie about a guy who works at an amusement park for the summer (instead of going to Europe like he thought he was going to), and his relationship with Emily (Kristen Stewart). I like Jesse Eisenberg, and Kristen Stewart wasn't bad. I wasn't really into this movie (SFD picked it) but it wasn't bad. I wasn't in a great mood the day we watched this so that may have affected my judgement and review.

The Pillars of the Earth (2010) (mini-series) *not from Zip*
I love this book and it was a transformative read for me as a teenager. This mini-series was very well-made and I really enjoyed it until the very end when it just got ridiculous. But other than that it was well done, and I thought, well cast! I'd just seen Les Miserables so it entertained me that Marius was Jack!

Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (1999) (documentary)

Not the best documentary I've seen but that could be because I know the ending of the story - or at least part of it. (Note: I'm NEVER going to Arkansas!!)

Holy Motors (2012)
I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated this movie. Written and directed by Leos Carax, and starring Denis Lavant as a guy who is driven around Paris in a white stretch limo (which seems to be even bigger on the inside) to a series of 'appointments' where he changes costume and character to do all kinds of bizarre things that are never explained. Half of the reviews I read of this film thought it was brilliant, and that if you didn't love it you were a moron. The other half said that this film is terrible, and if you love it you are a pretensious ass. I don't think I'm either, but this (like the conceptual art in Herb and Dorothy) did nothing for me.

Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
This was fun! (How could it not be? Pirates and treasure and ships and Tim Curry and muppets and singing! (And Billy Connolly!) The kid playing Jim leaves a bit to be desired but he wasn't BAD, but the muppets get all the good lines. The "Sailing for Adventure" song was great! (You can watch it here: on YouTube.) (And here's Tim Curry's "Professional Pirate" number: hilarious.)

Midnight in Paris (2011)
I usually don't like Owen Wilson, but he wasn't terrible in this movie. He's playing a Woody Allen-esque character, which may not go over well if you don't really like Woody Allen! Interesting idea (writer in Paris ends up back in the 1920s, hanging out with Hemingway et al.) and I just loved the Paris location. I was disappointed in Rachel McAdams's fiancee character, though. Pretty flat. (The writing, not the acting.)

21 Jump Street (2012)
This was better than I expected, but to be honest I expected it to be Total Crap. Jonah Hill was annoying in parts but Channing Tatum surprised me with some good comic timing. The script is pretty self-aware, which was nice.

The Hour Series 1 (2011) *not from Zip*
I loved this right up until the last episode, then it kind of lost me. I was on board with the cast (Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Dominic West are the three mains, with Anna Chancellor and Oona Chaplin) and the story (starting an investigative news program in the Cold War of the 1950s) but as I said, the last episode of Series 1 was too over the top for me. (Trying to avoid spoilers.) Great acting, good writing, great costumes and sets. I want to watch the second series!

Inside Job (2010) (documentary)
Narrated by Matt Damon, this documentary does a pretty good job of explaining the global financial crisis of 2008, how it happened and the problems with deregulation. There's a lot of material and the film does go on a bit long, but it's worth it. I felt like I learned a lot. (And like I wanted to punch a lot of people in the face.)

The Special Relationship (2010)
Michael Sheen plays Tony Blair (again) in this movie about Blair and Clinton through the Lewinsky scandal and the Kosovo/Serbian civil war and uprising. Good casting, I didn't think Dennis Quaid looked like Clinton, but he had the voice really well. Hope Davis was excellent as Hillary, and Helen McCrory (who played Cherie Blair to Michael Sheen's Tony Blair in The Queen) is back again and excellent.

Magic Mike (2012)
This was a part of our inadvertent Channing Tatum Film Festival, seeing as we've watched three movies with him in as many months (The Eagle, 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike). This was funny, the stripping costumes were entertaining, I enjoyed the soundtrack. I'm not sure the story really came together well - but does it matter? I thought Matthew McConaughey was funny, and as over-the-top as he needed to be.

Currently out from Zip:
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011) (documentary)
Limitless (2011)
Vanity Fair (2004)

What about YOU? Seen anything good lately? Anything you recommend?

2013: Homicide, The American, The Adventures of Tintin, Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Eagle, Over the Hedge, 36 quai des orfevres, The Help, Herb & Dorothy, Adventureland, The Pillars of the Earth, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, Holy Motors, Muppet Treasure Island, Midnight in Paris, 21 Jump Street, The Hour Series 1, Inside Job, The Special Relationship, Magic Mike

A Year of Reading: October 2012

starfishchick — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 20:16:06 GMT

1. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
3 stars on GoodReads
More like 3.5 stars. Some great writing and storytelling, but so far-fetched and somewhat repetitive (it's a story about a guy who walks - so lots of walking, obviously) so I did get a bit bored/tired at times. But a quick read with lovely moments and bits of description throughout.

2. The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy
3 stars on GoodReads
Not as soap-opera-y as I expected, but honestly the Channel Island setting (which is what drew me to it) wasn't as strong as I had hoped. Someone could make a really good film out of this book. Playing the Sympathetic Nazi would totally get award nominations, I bet.

3. Murder in the Marais (Aimee Leduc Investigations #1) by Cara Black
2 stars on GoodReads
So-so mystery set in Paris, about Nazis and Crimes From Years Ago Coming Back To Haunt Those Involved. I'd try another of this series but I wasn't blown away by this one.

4. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
3 stars on GoodReads
The story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson, in 1920s Jazz-age Paris and elsewhere. The narrative covers the time Hemingway was writing despatches for the Toronto Star, as well as what would go on to be 'The Sun Also Rises'. A good read, but frustrating - I kept wanting to punch Hemingway in the head. (As you do.) I knew very little about the era or the people involved, so I liked that aspect of it.

5. Regeneration by Pat Barker
So many good reviews, I just could not get into this book about the psychological effects of World War I and soldiers (such as Siegfried Sassoon) who would not/could not return to fight.

6. Into Great Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by
3 stars on GoodReads
Liked the first 150 or so pages, and the epilogue. In between I was bored. Walking, climbing, climbing, freezing, etc. I've read other Everest accounts and novels so knew the rough outlines. It felt a bit laboured in its detail. I really want to learn more about the 1999 Conrad Anker research expedition that discovered Mallory's body. (Nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize.)

7. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from 'Dear Sugar' by Cheryl Strayed
2 stars on GoodReads
I found this book frustrating. I usually love advice columns but this was mostly Sugar responding to letters by calling people annoyingly cute endearments (if I read 'sweet pea' one more time I was going to scream) and then telling stories of her own life and how it was much worse than the questioner's situation. I read the whole thing but the pattern just kept repeating.
The essay The Ghost Ship That Didn't Carry Us, though, moved me to tears.

8. Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
2 star on GoodReads
This book is described as ""The Paris Wife" meets "Into Thin Air"" - and I wish that for me that was true. I have read both of the above and liked them more than this. I found this book frustrating, obvious, and tedious. (Maybe because I knew the story?) And when I got to the end and read that the author had moved around things (like deaths of characters she deemed important to the plot BY 20 YEARS) and had characters discussing things that happened 7-8 years after the events of the novel, I was really angry.

9. Plan for Chaos by John Wyndham
2 stars on GoodReads
A sort-of mystery, a sort-of commentary on gender and eugenics, this had promise but didn't really go anywhere. I loved the premise but got bored about halfway through.

10. Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
4 stars on GoodReads
A great book, this follows the lives of six North Koreans over 15 years and tells their back-stories and the stories of their families through the death of Kim Il-sung and the rise of his son Kim Jong-il. If you read some of this stuff in a novel you'd think it was made up - it isn't. (Nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize.)

11. As the Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer (reread)
3 stars on GoodReads
I quite enjoy the epic family saga as a genre, and this is no exception. Still enjoy this upon reread, but the unrelenting assholerey of all the Trenthams gets tiring. I always think Nigel's wife is going to transform him, but no.

12. Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham
Interesting book (though it might work better as a long essay) about how humans discovering/eating cooked food was central to the biological and social evolution of humanity. Gave up after 50-60 pages. (Nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize.)

13. Pontius Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man by Ann Wroe
An attempt to write the history of a man with an unknown history. Interesting but I couldn't keep my interest sustained. Gave up. (Nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize.)

14. Considering Aaron Sorkin: Essays on the Politics, Poetics and Sleight of Hand in the Films and Television Series by Thomas Fahy
3 stars on GoodReads
3 stars because I do like reading meta-critique of Sorkin shows, but honestly I was so pissed that the first essay (by the editor, Fahy) gets an episode title wrong, that I was angry the whole way through. How can I take your critique seriously if you can't even get an episode title right? ARGH.

15. Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television's the West Wing by
3 stars on GoodReads
I think this was basically a thesis that got turned into a book. I really liked the chapter/essay 'Communicating the Presidency on Screen' which talked about the President (real and fictional) (and Presidential candidates) and how that portrayal on-screen affected success or failure.

Reading Now or in the 'To Read' Pile
-1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
-Death on the Dun by Paul Knowles (mystery book by a friend)
-Marking Time (Cazalets #2) by Elizabeth Jane Howard

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

Yuletide 2012 - Dear Author Letter

starfishchick — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:31:13 GMT

Dear Yuletide Writer of One of My Requests;

Hooray! Hi! Thank you for offering one of the fandoms I've requested!

Let me say just a few general things:

1. HAVE FUN. If you are offering a fandom, you probably love it, so write something that YOU like.

2. Here are some

In general terms, I like:
-past tense
-third-person narration
-first times
-established relationships
-banter (or at least dialogue, which I often find hard to write, but I do love reading it!)
-mild angst/UST, especially if it's resolved
-happy (or at least hopeful) endings
-good grammar
-styles like epistolary or Five Things fic (though straight linear fic is great too - that's what I tend to write!)
-consensual sex

In general terms, I don't like:
-character death
-rape/non-con
-deep horrible emotional pain and angst
-really bad physical pain (I mean, I don't mind a slight bullet wound or whatever, but no torture, etc.)
-first- or second-person narrative voice
-kid!fic (which, um, shouldn't be an issue in any of the fandoms I'm asking for) or incest
-present tense
-hardcore kink!sex (I mean, a little bondage is fine if the story calls for it, but I'm not really into anything harder-core than that.)

3. Please take my optional details as suggestions, not orders. For example, the 30 Rock story doesn't HAVE to include cheese-shopping. (Though it is totally in character.)

4. Have fun! Seriously.

30 Rock
(Liz Lemon)
Liz Lemon and her daily life - buying cheese, doing laundry, the random thought processes, arguments, and conversations she must have with herself. Interactions with Jack are especially awesome. (With other 30-Rockers is great too.) I'm current so anything involving Criss works too. Any season, anything, really. Before, during, after canon is all fine.

* * * * *

This Is Where It Starts (commercial)
(Ben Watkins, Meng Ling)

If you were me, and if you spent 60 seconds watching this commercial, when the commercial ended, you said "and then they had sex, right?" I MEAN COME ON. There is so much story in these 60 seconds. Childhood! Teens! College ball! (And since the NCAA Tournament is one of my favourite things, I was squeeing right there.) Draft Day! (The angst, the highs, the lows, the suits, the frantic necking in the hallways.) The pros! (Not nearly as interesting as college in my opinion.) The OLYMPICS! (Another of my favourite things.) So yes, this commercial has it all, in little bits. And I want more! An expansion of the canon, any of it, would be great. Suggestions (which are just that, suggestions) include the tournament! Draft day! The Olympics! The yearnings, workouts, games, and hot times in between!

* * * * *

Bull Durham (1988)
(Annie Savoy)

Who is this woman? Where did she come from? What's her story, her background, her history? How did she get into baseball in the first place? Who was the first ball player she ever hooked up with? Before, during, after canon is all fine. Any appearance by Crash or Nuke is awesome.

* * * * *

Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
(Catherine Banning)

Who is this woman? Where did she come from? What's her story, her background, her history? How did she get turned on to those vile-looking green breakfast drinks? Before, during, after canon is all fine.

5. OMG YULETIDE!

A Year of Zip Movies: September 2012

starfishchick — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:12:26 GMT

September 2012

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
I kind of wish they had just made a Western, because the scenery was beautiful and the acting was good - other than Olivia Wilde, who I just do not understand. The aliens were gory and the story was pretty ridiculous, but this wasn't NEARLY as bad as we expected it to be.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Really sweet and funny. I don't know how we'd missed seeing this for 10+ years but it was a lot of fun.

Friends with Benefits (2011)
I really like Mila Kunis which is why I put this on the list. It was fun, and again much better than expected. Justin Timberlake has some great comic timing! I liked this a LOT - even though I do agree than they aren't really 'friends with benefits'. I loved the sets, too - her apartment in particular was awesome. And I liked that she was good at her job.

Green Lantern (2011)
OK, this was pretty terrible. On 'The Big Bang Theory' they said that Green Lantern should have been played by Nathan Fillion - that might have saved it for me. But probably not - the script was really terrible.

Parks and Recreation: Season 1 (2009)
Yes, we are really this far behind the Parks and Rec scene. This was entertaining, though I did have to do the hide-my-face-at-others'-embarrassing-statements thing. We will watch more of this for sure. (When 30 Rock is finished for good, probably.)

Currently out from Zip:
-Easy Virtue (2009)
-Seducing Doctor Lewis (La grande séduction) (2004)

What are you watching? Seen anything good lately?

A Year of Reading: September 2012

starfishchick — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 19:51:51 GMT

1. The Sins of the Father (The Clifton Chronicles #2) by Jeffrey Archer
2 stars on GoodReads
Soapy, soapy, soapy, and fairly ridiculous. I keep reading because I keep hoping for a repeat of the Archer books I love, but so far, not in this series.

2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Laudau-Banks by E. Lockhart
4 stars on GoodReads
Good feminist YA, and a boarding school story to boot. Loved the wordplay. Recommended.

3. The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane by Matthew Hutson
2 stars on GoodReads
Pop science and I love the subject but the writing did nothing for me. Did not finish.

4. Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin
3 stars on GoodReads
Really more like 3.5 stars. I read this really quickly, I think I need to spend more time with it. But it wasn't as immediately-awesome to me as The Happiness Project was.

5. The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
2 stars on GoodReads
Did not finish. This is an interesting exercise in world-building based on our world in which Napoleon defeated Wellington at Waterloo in 1815. Spiritualism is mainstream, the narrator is trying to solve a mystery, blah blah blah. Gave up around page 300. I just didn't care anymore.

6. The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
1 star on GoodReads
Tried it twice, couldn't get into it, sadly.

7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4 stars on GoodReads
Really enjoyed this. Best to know nothing going in, it's very twisted and turny. Honestly, I saw some twists coming but I loved them.

8. The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson
1 star on GoodReads
This is the book where Henry VIII calls Anne Boleyn "PUFF BALL". This book is terrible!! I finished it just to see how absolute BS the author could shovel in. It's like someone challenged her or something. Really sad, seeing as Carolly Erickson wrote some really good Tudor non-fiction back in the day.

9. Room by Emma Donoghue
4 stars on GoodReads
Really riveting and well done, though of course awful given the story. (A kidnapped woman and her son living in a one-room prison.) I do wish some of it had been from the mother's point of view, but the child's point of view is amazing.

10. Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King
3 stars on GoodReads
I have loyalty to this series, and I found this a lot better read than the previous book in the series ('The Pirate King') but ... meh. I was bored until about page 180, then bored again by page 250. Worth it only if you are a Russell absolutist.

11. Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster
4 stars on GoodReads
A comfort book when I was ill. I love this book, love Judy, love the epistolary format, love the drawings, love it all. (Until the end when it is a bit creepy, with her calling him 'Daddy'.) BUT STILL. I love it.

Reading Now or in the 'To Read' Pile
-At Home by Bill Bryson (still rereading)
-The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
-The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
-Into Great Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis (skimming)
-Regeneration (Regeneration, #1) by Pat Barker
-Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
-Out of My League: A Rookie's Survival in the Bigs by Dirk Hayhurst
-Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
-The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Reading: August 2012

starfishchick — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:15:42 GMT

1. Moondust: In Search Of The Men Who Fell To Earth by Andrew Smith (reread)
3 stars on GoodReads
3 stars in 2008, 3 stars now. Interesting stuff, but I'm not sure I got the overarcing mystical experience the author is getting.

2. The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight by Martha Ackmann
3 stars on GoodReads
A book about the personalities of the women who tried to be a part of the space program in the 1950s and 1960s, and the obstacles put in their way by the times and the people/social norms and expectations of the times. Really interesting, and really infuriating. (Especially things like "ladies can't go into space, they have WACKY BODIES THAT WE DON'T UNDERSTAND AND ANYWAY SPACE SUITS ARE MADE FOR MENS' BODIES!!!")

3. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
2 stars on GoodReads
I'm hanging in there with Kinsey Milhone until the bitter end, but it's been a while (maybe since J-K-L) since I really enjoyed a book in this series. Honestly I can't even remember what this one was about! All I remember is that there were lots of non-Kinsey POVs, which I found strange and frustrating.

4. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
4 stars on GoodReads
I liked this, but I don't know that I would recommend it to people. Is that weird? Anyway, it reminded me a bit of 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' which I love, and 'Empire Falls' by Richard Russo - I had the same feeling while reading it. Sort of a feeling of looking into a mystical version of our world except that the book has no elements of mysticism/magic to it at all. It all felt very surreal and almost entirely unbelievable, except that I wanted so much for it to be real.

5. Broken Elements (Elements, #1) by Mia Marshall
4 stars on GoodReads
Note: I know the author. Note: I liked the book.
I liked it a lot, in fact. A good mystery (which I did not at all figure out for myself, despite thinking that I had - more than once!!) and great characters, with snappy fun dialogue along the way. More, please!

6. The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
3 stars on GoodReads
Post WWII, a young immigrant woman arrives in Montreal. But she is not who she claims to be. This novel attempts to tell her story, and mostly tells the story of the child she has in Montreal. Interesting and I loved the premise but I have to admit that I skimmed the last third of this.

7. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
3 stars on GoodReads
A little girl survives the killing of her family - and testified that her brother was the killer. But was he? What happened back in the mid-1980s on that farm in Kansas? A quick and creepy read. I didn't actually enjoy it, it was a bit too creepy/dark for me, and I didn't like the narrator at all - but I'm not sure I was supposed to? But I was compelled to see What Happened, both in the past and present story-lines, and would read more by this author.
(Confession: I wanted to put this book in the freezer.)

8. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
3 stars on GoodReads
I picked this up due to the beautiful cover, the setting (1890s New York and England), and the premise (American heiress goes to England to find a titled husband) and it was pretty entertaining but a lot less Serious Literature and a lot more Victoria Holt-ish than I expected!
I didn't really like any of the characters - the heirss in question, Cora Cash (REALLY, that's your name?) is richer than the Vanderbilts and I found her frustrating and annoying. The supporting cast (her mother, her English lord, his asshole friends) were all a bit one-tone.
Not bad, just ... soapy.

9. It's So Easy (and Other Lies) by Duff McKagen
4 stars on GoodReads
This was GREAT. It jumped around a bit near the beginning, and I honestly couldn't tell where we were in the timeline, but once it settled down into a more linear story it worked better for me. My other complaint is that Duff is just Too Nice. Everyone he meets is a Good Guy With Problems. He doesn't really get into the down and dirty issues of the band or anything like that. But this memoir is interesting, and a good story, well-told. I love how he talks so honestly about his addictions, sobering-up, re-launch of his life, relapse, and more. He was always my favourite member of GnR, and it's so nice to see him doing well and being such a positive person in the world. Really inspiring.

Reading Now or Up Next:
-At Home by Bill Bryson (still rereading)
-The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane by Matthew Hutson
-The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Reading: May 2012

starfishchick — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:10:21 GMT

1. Seen Reading by Julie Wilson
2 stars on GoodReads
Micro-fiction based on people the author saw reading on Toronto public transit. One story (the lit cigarette one) stuck with me, the rest flitted out as soon as I turned each page. The voyeur aspect got creepier as I kept reading. Maybe less police-profile type descriptions would have helped that?

2. Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History by Megan Smolenyak
3 stars on GoodReads
Probably more *useful* for Americans than for me - extended discussion of Ellis Island is not helpful to a Canadian researching UK-straight-to-Canada immigrant relatives - but I like the subject and like her style.

3. Moment of Truth (Rosato & Associates, #7) by Lisa Scottoline
2 stars on GoodReads
Ridiculous but good airplane/train reading. Might make a good movie with the right cast! Sandra Bullock as the lead, perhaps!

4. The Appeal by John Grisham
2 stars on GoodReads
This killed 6 or so hours on a trans-Atlantic flight. Unfortunately, the ending sucked so hard that it left a bad taste in my mouth. I had about three twists in mind that I felt were telegraphed but that did not materialize, to my immense frustration. (WTF was up with Brianna? Why did she have interesting thoughts/actions but then disappear from the story?)

5. By the Time You Read This by Giles Blunt
3 stars on GoodReads
I feel like maybe I shouldn't have started with this book since it's a couple books into a series, but nonetheless. This was good enough that I'd try others in the series. In this one, a police detective loses his wife to suicide, then insists on investigating her death as a murder. I loved the Canadian (thinly disguised North Bay) setting.

6. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
4 stars on GoodReads
I have no idea how to review this book. It was funny and sad and frustrating and fascinating all at once.

7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
4 stars on GoodReads
I really enjoyed this! No kidding, at the climax my heart was pounding as I read! I think this could make an awesome movie if they can get the rights to all of the pop-culture stuff mentioned. A really fun read.

8. The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
3 stars on GoodReads
Interesting and scary - I never want to go out on the water again, and it's amazing how little we know about waves and the oceans! - but it was a bit of a struggle to finish this one. I tore through the first 130 or so pages and then really had to push to finish.

9. Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt
3 stars on GoodReads
I think I stopped at the worst possible and most frightening point in this book last night, and it gave me nightmares. A decent procedural, I think the inside-the-mind view of the "villain" elevated it in quality (and scariness). I wanted to put this book in the freezer, but I think I'm probably over-reacting.

Reading Now, Up Next, or In Transit At the Library:
-Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (if the library ever gets around to getting it!)
-The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (though I have started this and it might be too advanced for me - or rather I am not advanced enough for it!!)
-The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Zip Movies: April 2012 (belated)

starfishchick — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:53:55 GMT

Source Code (2011)
A soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of a stranger and with a voice in his head telling him that he is re-living the last 8 minutes of that man's life as he tries to figure out who bombed a commuter train - and stop another even more deadly attack. We both liked this a lot - it was better than the trailer made it look. A bit like 'Groundhog Day' but with explosions and guns, but if you like the 'infinite possibilities branching out from our choices' thing, you will like this. We did not see the ending coming, but it's not unbelievable. With Michelle Monaghan as the love interest and Vera Farmiga as the soldier's contact in the military. Recommended.

Spartan (2004)
Great cast - Val Kilmer, William H. Macy, Ed O'Neill, ~~Veronica Mars~~ Kristen Bell, Derek Luke - and written and directed by David Mamet, this is the story of a special ops officer who are assigned to find the missing daughter of a high-ranking government official and things get more complicated than expected. A smart movie, it doesn't spell things out heavy-handedly, there are moments you have no idea what is going on (like, the first 15 minutes) but it's compelling and keeps you watching until you have a grasp of what is happening. We had seen it before but couldn't remember all the details - we knew one major thing that made one twist known to us but it in no way ruined the movie. Tense and compelling, the violence is present but not over the top. Recommended.

The Expendables (2010)
Does what it says on the box. Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was ridiculous but entertaining - lots of stuff blows up real good. If that's your thing, you'll like this movie. I read a book during some of the fighting sequences but I watched enough to know they were well-choreographed and well-executed.

Mesrine: Partie 1 - L'instinct de mort (Part 1 - Killer Instinct) (2008)
Bio-pic starring Vincent Cassel as the French gangster Jacques Mesrine. He was a soldier in Algeria in the 1950s and embarked on a life of crime in the 60s. Bank robberies, kidnapping, escapes from prison ... this is only part one; I can't imagine what he'll do in part 2! Great performance by Cassel.

Hustle: Season 1 Disc 2 (2004)
We finished up Season 1 of this BBC show about a group of con artists running "long cons"- confidence schemes with long and complicated procedures but great financial returns. Their theory is that you can't con an honest ~~man~~ person; if you put the bait out and they bite, they'll try to reel you in, but if you ignore it they won't go after you. They see themselves as Robin Hood-esque, a bit, but teh poor they give to are themselves. If you like heists and similar schemes, give it a try.

Currently Out from Zip
Eat Pray Love (2010)
Lost in Austen (2008)
Bottle Shock (2008)
What Just Happened (2008)
Army of Shadows (L'armée des ombres) (1969)

[2012: The Road, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Big Night, Pirate Radio (a.k.a. The Boat That Rocked), Return to Cranford, Fair Game, Buried, 10 Items or Less, Megamind, Le deuxième souffle, Source Code, Spartan, The Expendables, Mesrine Part 1, Hustle: Season 1 Disc 2]

A Year of Reading: April 2012

starfishchick — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:57:55 GMT

1. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman
2 stars on GoodReads
This was OK. I think my main problem was that I didn't much like Piper. The author was an accomplice in a drug trafficking for a short while as a college student/recent grad - ten years after doing this, she is charged and sentenced to 15 months in prison. She spent the bulk of her time at Danbury in Connecticut (but not in the maximum security section). A true story but it is a bit cliched: "A well-educated, upper class white woman goes to prison and builds strong bonds with her fellow inmates, who are mostly undereducated women of color from the wrong side of the tracks." (Lynn Doughty, GoodReads Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/182397746)

2. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connolly
4 stars on GoodReads
Two years after the cases in 'The Lincoln Lawyer', Mickey Haller is back, taking on the case of a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. I don't remember much about this one; I think I read it in a day while on vacation!

3. The Reversal by Michael Connolly
Defense attorney Mickey Haller is recruited to change sides and prosecute the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. The originally convicted killer Jason Jessup has been exonerated by new DNA evidence 24 years after the first trial. This was a lot creepier than I expected, I was really quite worked up that something terrible was going to happen. (It ... did, but not what I was expecting.) There was a twist and the ending was kind of unsatisfying but still a good read. This alternated between first- and third-person narration from two different characters, which was a bit jarring.

4. Seven Grandmothers by Reba Paeff Mirsky
3 stars on GoodReads
The sequel to Thirty One Brothers and Sisters, Nomusa of the Zulu people takes us into the world of witch doctors. She is thinking of becoming one herself; she also meets one of her tribeswomen, who is a nurse. I think I would have liked this better if I had read it when I was younger and had just read Thirty One Brothers and Sisters. After all these years, this book (and the next one) felt tacked-on. Also, witch-doctoring and/or nursing is not NEARLY as interesting as an elephant hunt!

5. Nomusa and the New Magic by Reba Paeff Mirsky
3 stars on GoodReads
This is the third book in the series. This story shows the changes in Zulu society as the Western ideas of education are arriving in the area. Nomusa goes to school, and wants to be a nurse. Her brother wants to be a teacher. is attending nursing school has moved in with Buselapi, assisting her in nursing while she attends school to get the basic education that will enable her to attend nursing school in the big city. And Damasi tries to find a way to raise the dowry he'll need to court Nomusa! (Yay, Nomusa+Damasi!!)
Again, I think I would have loved this as a child/young adult, as a grown-up it was just OK. But nice to see time pass and get some resolutions!

6. Cinnabar the One O'Clock Fox by Marguerite Henry
5 stars on GoodReads
Told from the fox's point of view, this is the story of Cinnabar and the day he spends teasing, taunting, and trying to survive a fox hunt led by George Washington! I absolutely loved this as a child, and I loved it as an adult, too!

7. The Fifth Witness by Michael Connolly
3 stars on GoodReads
Here's the thing about Mickey Haller books - if you think someone is innocent, they probably aren't. Unless they are. And if you think someone is guilty, they probably aren't. Unless they are. In this book, Mickey is dealing with the foreclosure industry, and one case that goes from foreclosure to murder. Satisfying and well-done twists. (Not sure about the wicked beating Mickey takes very early in the book - it seemed out of place to me in the series?)

8. The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon
2 stars on GoodReads
Gave up. If you know more about the period or are interested in it, this might hold your interest more. This is a fictional account of the time that Aristotle spent with the young Alexander (eventually to become The Great). It just didn't work for me.

9. The Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
3 stars on GoodReads
LOTS of red herrings, and a very gullible narrator who drags the reader along with him down each false trail. Frustrating but entertaining!

10. The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure (reread)
4 stars on GoodReads
I loved this when I read the hardcover last year, and asked for the paperback for my birthday. I just got it, and immediately reread it. Still good!

11. Crucible of Gold (Temeraire series #7) by Naomi Novik
3 stars on GoodReads
Better than book 6 (Australia) which I hated the whole time I was reading it and get annoyed just thinking about now. This one has to do with the New World, and describes encounters between the British envoy (including Temeraire and Laurence, of course) and the Incan empire. I really liked the ideas of the Incan society and its approach to dragons. Still not sure how they are ever going to get back to fighting the Napoleonic Wars, especially with how this book ends, but of course I'll keep reading, I'm in it for the long haul.

12. Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs
4 stars on GoodReads
Enjoyed this, maybe not QUITE as much as his previous 'self-experiment' books, but very interesting and of course I find Jacobs to be a very funny writer. This book is about health (obviously) and A.J.'s attempt to be the healthiest possible. He looks at many different aspects of health and healthy living, and does discuss part of what I find the most frustrating: contradictory diet and exercise advice. He tries extreme things, reasoning that trying the extremes is how you find the middle ground you can live with. Inspiring and hilarious. I wished it were more detailed, and longer!!

13. Our Queen by Robert Hardman
4 stars on GoodReads
A little fawning, but I like the Queen too, so it didn't bother me that much. Really interesting look at the monarchy and how it has changed (and not) in the 60 years of Elizabeth II's reign, and how it has transitioned to the 21st century. The author is a long-time Royal observer and writer, and clearly has a lot of 'ins' with the family and staff. The only place it lost me was the the discussion of the county lieutenants - boring!! The stuff about the Commonwealth was interesting - I'm a part of it but don't honestly know much about what it does. This book is current, up-to-date, and well done!

My favourite bit was learning about the invitation extended by Estonia in 1994 after their break from the Soviet Union to Edward, asking if he wanted to come be King of Estonia. Awesome. (He politely declined.)

14. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
2 stars on GoodReads
This was frustrating but I did want to know what happened. The narrator is the average-in-all-ways goody-goody Rachel, always being outshone by her gorgeous best friend Darcy, who gets everything her way - and then Rachel sleeps with Darcy's fiance.* I disliked all of the characters and wanted them to just get on with it already. I called a major plot twist quite early on. Apparently the sequel is better and from Darcy's POV, I would actually be interested in that. *Not really on purpose, but not as plottingly as I would like. Like Nan in Circle of Friends, I like seeing the POV of the person who intentionally does something like that.

Reading Now, Up Next, or In Transit At the Library:
-Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
-Seen Reading by Julie Wilson
-Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Reading: March 2012

starfishchick — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:24:42 GMT

1. Judi Dench: With a Crack in Her Voice by John Miller
gave up
I had just read 'And Furthermore' which is Judi Dench's autobiography (instead of biography) and thought this would be an interesting follow-up ... but it was mostly the same stories so I got bored very quickly and gave up.

2. The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell (reread)

3. The Tudor Throne by Brandy Purdy
gave up
I wanted to like this - wanted to love it, really - as an alternating POV story of Elizabeth and Mary Tudor after the death of Henry VIII. I had to put it down when the author got Anne Boleyn's motto wrong, though. Blurg.

4. Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike by Charlotte Gray
4 stars on Goodreads
I really liked this!! I knew little about the gold rush and I felt this book gave me both a wider context and a specific understanding of certain peoples' experiences. Charlotte Gray is a good writer and a great researcher; in this book she follows the story of the Klondike gold rush through the stories of a prospector, a priest, a businesswoman, an English journalist, the law officer Sam Steele, and Jack London. I liked some chapters/characters (all real people, please note) better than others but it was all interesting. There are lots of 'words of the time' (letters, newspaper articles, etc.) to give more details and veracity to the stories. Recommended.

5. Admission by Jean Hanff Kroelitz
3 stars on Goodreads
This was on my to-read list for a while but when I read that Tina Fey was possibly going to play the lead in the movie, I moved it up my list. And it was OK. The narrator - Portia - is both likeable and annoying. I was interested in the admission(s) process (Portia is an admission(s) officer for Princeton but then not sure how much of the insider information was true. I saw the 'secret/twist' from a mile away and even though it didn't pan out as I expected, it was still kind of cliche. I'm undecided on this one.

6. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
5 stars on Goodreads
I loved this, even though it was rough going at times. (Reading about Japanese POW camps will do that to me.) This is the biography of Louis Zamperini, childhood hooligan, teenage athlete, Olympian, WWII airman, plane crash survivor, POW, and beyond.
The author, Laura Hillenbrand - who wrote Seabiscuit, which I also loved - is an amazing writer, and clearly did metric tonnes of research for this book. Really amazing story, and story-telling.
Note: if you are going back in time and fighting for the Allies, and are going to be a POW, be in a German camp, not a Japanese one, OK? I had to return the book to the library, but the death rate in Japanese camps vs. in German camps is INSANE. It would still suck to be in a POW camp, but in a German camp they (mostly) respect the Geneva Convention and aren't starving/torturing/killing prisoners.

7. Fire by Kristin Cashore
2 stars on Goodreads
Meh. I couldn't put a finger on what I didn't like about this, but it just didn't work for me.

8. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connolly
4 stars on Goodreads
I had seen the movie so wasn't entirely surprised at the plot but still really enjoyed this (mostly) courtroom drama. (The movie is really good, too!)

9. Lord John Gray and The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
3 stars on Goodreads
One of the books Diana Gabaldon puts out when she is writing another in the Outlander series. This was OK - a lot of people seem to like it mostly because it has Jamie Fraser in it, which ... I prefer Lord John on his own. But this was OK. I'd rather read an Outlander book, though.

10. A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George
2 stars on Goodreads
I read this and read this and read this and nothing happened. I read the whole thing, though - and it was not short!!! I won't be picking up another in this series unless someone really strongly recommends it and none of the other books on my to-read list are available.

11. Thirty-One Brothers and Sisters by Reba Paeff Mirsky
4 stars on Goodreads
One of my favourites from childhood - this is from the 1950s and belonged to my father before he passed it on to me - and I am happy to say it held up really well on a reread!! This is the story of Nomusa, a Zulu girl, and her daily life (with wildlife encounters, chores, parties, and more) and then her adventures on a hunt with the men on the tribe. Not at all condescending or patronizing, is like really fun cultural anthropology.

Reading Now, Up Next, or In Transit At the Library:
-Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik
-Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs
-The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
-The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon
-Our Queen by Robert Hardman

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Zip Movies: March 2012

starfishchick — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:51:33 GMT

Buried (2010)
Ryan Reynolds plays a truck driver in Iraq who has been kidnapped and buried alive with a cell phone and a lighter; the whole movie is shot in the box - it's incredibly claustrophobic but really powerful. Recommended if you like tense, problem-solving, action movies. (Though this is not an 'action' movie exactly, it has that feel.)

10 Items or Less (2006)
Morgan Freeman is an un-named movie star (presumably playing some version of himself) researching a role as a grocery store clerk. He ends up spending the day with a grocery store clerk (played by Spanish actress Paz Vega) and sees what her reality is like. This didn't take any of the turns we expected, and we liked it a lot. Recommended if you like quirky, quiet movies.

Megamind (2010)
This was fun, but not fantastic. Voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Brad Pitt. Will Ferrell is the evil genius, Tina Fey is the reporter he likes, Jonah Hill is her cameraman with a crush, and Brad Pitt is the superhero (and MegaMind's nemesis MetroMan). I think our favourite parts were the way MegaMind mispronounced things. Favourite one: Metro City as Metrocity (rhyming with atrocity). Recommended if you like animation, Will Ferrell, or superheroes.

Le deuxième souffle (1966) - SFD only

Currently Out from Zip
Eat Pray Love (2010)
Lost in Austen (2008)
Source Code (2011)
Spartan (2004)

[2012: The Road, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Big Night, Pirate Radio (a.k.a. The Boat That Rocked), Return to Cranford, Fair Game, Buried, 10 Items or Less, Megamind, Le deuxième souffle]

A Year of Zip Movies: February 2012

starfishchick — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:57:23 GMT

Pirate Radio (a.k.a. The Boat That Rocked) (2009)
Directed by Richard Curtis. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Rhys Ifans, and a bunch of British people (mostly guys) who live aboard an illegal (pirate) radio ship broadcasting rock and pop music from the North Sea in the 1960s. Kenneth Branagh is the bureaucrat who wants to shut them down. (Jack Davenport is his assistant.) Great soundtrack - no Beatles, though, due to licensing I guess - and pretty entertaining on the whole. It took a while to get into this, and there are some excrutiatingly embarrasing slapstick-y sex scenes, but on the whole we liked it!

Return to Cranford (2009)
Bad Things Keep Happening in Cranford, I really did not need it to be so depressing, but then, that is the reality of the time period. The ending was uplifting and there were some moments of true comedy in this series (IMELDA STAUNTON AND THE BIRDCAGE OMG) and all in all I liked this a lot. Judi Dench is fabulous as always. I was disappointed not to see Baby Paul Bettany a.k.a. Simon Woods in this installment, though.

Fair Game (2010)
This is the movie version of the Valerie Plame situation, when a CIA operative has her identity leaked by the government as payback for an anti-Bush-administration op-ed article her husband wrote. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn star, and are good - believable in the parts and Penn is not over the top. (GOOD.) This movie was based on books by the real Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson, and so of course it shows their side and them being in the right. (Which I think they were, so that doesn't hurt the movie for me.) Roger Ebert points out that it's interesting that they used real names in this 'fictionalized' account - Scooter Libby and Dick Cheney are played right there on the screen with their real names. Recommended.

And not from Zip:
The Trip (2010) (6-part series)
This felt almost like a documentary. A sad, moving documentary of a lonely and sad man who may or may not be Steve Coogan in the middle of a mid-life crisis and his kind-of friend who go on a restaurant tour of the North of England for a magazine feature. (Steve was supposed to take his girlfriend but they are on a break.) Some of it is hilarious (I still love Gentlemen, To Bed) but some of it is heartbreaking. Really good stuff. (We watched it one episode at a time - there is a movie version but I think that might have been too much all at once.)

Watched in March or Currently Out From Zip:
-Eat Pray Love (2010)
-Buried (2010)
-10 Items or Less (2006)
-Megamind (2010)

Anything you've watched lately that you recommend - or don't recommend?

[2012: The Road, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Big Night, Pirate Radio (a.k.a. The Boat That Rocked), Return to Cranford, Fair Game]

A Year of Reading: February 2012

starfishchick — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:42:47 GMT

Last night I went with listersgirl and SFD to see Potted Potter, an unauthorized parody of the Harry Potter books, seven books in 70 minutes. It's a two-man show, and honestly it was more MANIC than I expected (having seen One Man Lord of the Rings I suppose I was expecting something more like that?) but it was really funny - the two guys did well, and were (mostly) able to hold it together when they needed to ad-lib. The best part was when they got two people from the audience up on stage to be the Seekers (for the game of Quidditch we played in the middle of the show, naturally) and one was this tiny kid who clearly KNEW THE BOOKS and was READY TO PLAY QUIDDITCH and was TOTALLY INTO IT. She stole the show! The worst part was the girl across the aisle from us who was TEXTING ON HER FUCKING PHONE THROUGHOUT THE SHOW. I went over to her after to say that it had been very disturbing to me and that perhaps next time she might want to reconsider doing that DURING A LIVE SHOW. If there had been an intermission I would have called the ushers on her but since there was no break I didn't know what else to do. SOMETHING HAD TO BE SAID!!)

And then I got home at a reasonable time and spent the rest of the evening typing up my February books post! So here it is!!

1. Allegiance: A Dublin Novella by Heather Domin
4 stars on Goodreads
An MI5 informant on his last assignment infiltrates a group of IRA supporters in Dublin. This novella features likeable and layered characters, an interesting plot, and a nice m/m romance. A good quick read!

2. Atonement by Ian McEwan
I needed a small paperback to carry with me. I liked the movie of this so I tried the book. I think I read 50 pages, and I was so bored, it took so long to get going that I lost interest. Gave up.

3. The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power by Geoffrey Dunn
4 stars on Goodreads
A political biography, this was both interesting and infuriating. I am no fan of Sarah Palin, and in that sense it was a reassuring book to read, because the author really dislikes her, too. (He's not always objective, but I didn't want him to be.) A bit repetitive near the end but still a good read, especially if you want to be reminded of the ways in which this is NOT a good person to have attempting to run the state of Alaska, let alone the US.

4. The Ice Cream Army by Jessica Gregson
4 stars on Goodreads
A Turkish boy emigrates to Australia and ends up living and working in a small outback town. When WWI breaks out (and Australia is sending troops to die in the Ottoman Empire/Turkey) relatively good relationships between Australians and the Turkish immigrants change to racial prejudice and violence. Based on true events, this book tells the story from different points of view to show how it might have come to pass. Lovely language and descriptions, likeable and believable characters, and a slow but unrelenting journey to the tragic ending. Really well done.

5. The Last Season by Eric Blehm
4 stars on Goodreads
This is the true story of a veteran National Park Ranger in the backcountry of the Sierra Nevadas who disappeared in the park. A bit repetitive at points but all together a really gripping read! I'm so glad there were photos, it really helped me understand more about the terrain and surroundings.

6. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
2 stars on Goodreads
This is the story of Jewish WWII refugee immigrants Jack and Sadie Rosenblum. Sadie buries her sorrows at those left behind with baking, but Jack tries desperately to become a proper English gentleman and when he cannot get into a golf club (because All English Gentlemen Play Golf) he decides to build his own. Wackiness and tragedy ensue. I didn't love this, honestly, but I think it would make a great movie!

7. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices Into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn
4 stars on Goodreads
I was so-so on the author's first book about her experiences at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but I liked this one much better. This is the story of the author helping a group of non-cooking women find the courage and skills to be better cooks. It includes tips, recipes, and ideas for anyone who wants to learn more about basic cooking skills.
This is the book that convinced me to try roasting a whole chicken, which I had never done before!

8. The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes
4 stars on Goodreads
This is a book of fantastic photos and insights, that provides some context of both the show (which I love) and the history of the time depicted (which is fascinating). I loved the chapter about costume design, and all of the behind-the-scenes information about the show.

9. No Quarter by Tanya Huff (reread)

10. Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn
1 star on GoodReads
I wanted to love this, I had followed the story of the lost bath toys when it was in the news and magazines, and I liked this book for about 100 pages, then I was so bored I fell asleep reading it twice! I think photos would have helped? There were great swaths of description but not one damned photo. Too bad. Gave up around page 165.

11. And Furthermore by Judi Dench
3 stars on Goodreads
This was pretty good, overall. I felt we got some of Dame Judi's voice, which is nice, as she is very private in her real life. You won't get gossip or deep dark secrets in this book, it's certainly much more her 'life in the business' instead of her life, relationships, etc. Which is her perfect right, but still. Those of us who would like to emulate her would like more personal details!! To be honest - and I hate to critizise it at all - some of it was kind of choppy and stories were told without much context for the reader who doesn't know much about the London Theatre Scene in the 1950s-1980s. I am going to read her biography by John Miller to (I hope!) get more context for the stories I read in this book.

Up Next or In Transit At the Library:
-Judi Dench: With a Crack in her Voice by John Miller (started this morning!)
-The Tudor Throne by Brandy Purdy
-Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike by Charlotte Gray
-The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Reading: January 2012

starfishchick — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:21:18 GMT

Hello! I spent the morning at a library conference* so this is my quick break of posting (I cleverly typed it last night, saving the LJ formatting for actual LJ posting) before I work late (to make up the hours) and then go out to dinner with shaes_shire who is in town for the same conference!

*Where I met Guy Gavriel Kay and Nancy Pearl!! (The former spoke very well but was kind of rude in person, Nancy Pearl did not speak much but was very sweet in person.)

On to the books!

1. The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (in Real Life) by Chris Hardwick
3 stars on Goodreads
This is really more of a 3.5. I'll probably upgrade to a 4-star rating upon re-read. Some parts were more applicable to me than others - I don't need to fix my credit score, I don't really need that many pages of work-out instruction, I can get that elsewhere - but the first section (goal-setting, assess-your-skills, use your laser-brain stuff, deal-with-anxiety-and-panic-attacks stuff) was helpful, interesting, and entertaining. (And full of dick jokes.)

2. Jane Austen by Carol Shields
3 stars on Goodreads
This is a relatively short biography of Jane Austen - it's really more a biography of her work than of her life. (We get the big-picture events but that's about it.) Carol Shields is a great writer herself so even if I wasn't that into the subject matter at some points, the writing made it worthwhile.

3. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (gave up)
I really stalled on this around pages 80-92 or so, but I picked it up again for another try and am back into it. I got to page 140 or so and then gave up. I might have loved this as a young teen but I just can't get into it now. Too bad - people really seem to love it!

4. The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert
4 stars on Goodreads
I liked this a lot. It's a biography of Eustace Conway, a naturalist and woodsman-survivalist who has been living in the Appalachian woods since his teenage years (in the late 1970s). Eustace came across as a fascinating and frustrating person, and it seemed to me that Elizabeth Gilbert was both fascinated and frustrated by him as well.
The book is also (sort of) about the disconnect between people and the land, and how so many people say they want to 'get back to nature' but when they do, they don't like it (it's hard, it's a lot of work, etc.)
Eustace certainly has issues - with his father, his siblings, the women in his life - but being boring isn't one of them. I found the Gilbert's writing engaging, entertaining, and flowing. I read this in about a day - couldn't put it down!

5. A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
2 stars on Goodreads
This is sort of part-literary-analysis and part-memoir. I don't dislike it, but I personally wanted more memoir and less literary analysis. Probably if you had read more Jane Austen than I have you would like this better than I did. Interesting idea, though!

6. Into the Silence: the Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis (gave up)
Interesting but too long to read in the short-term loan I had.

7. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
3 stars on Goodreads
This never got as incest-creepy as I expected it to - WHICH IS GOOD - but I felt there were many a few too many red herrings. And of course the book-and-movie trope of finding exactly the right clues/people/things to figure out the mystery... I can see this being made into a movie, like Posession. (This one has three stories, three generations, a mystery, etc.)

8. The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
3 stars on Goodreads
An entertaining and interesting read, it is both funny and worrisome. There's a mysterious book, criminal profilers, Scientologists, and possible undiagnosed psychopaths around every corner. (Am I one? How about everyone I know?)

9. The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons
3 stars on Goodreads
As I mentioned in one status update, the world's smallest font didn't do much for me and I will remember to check font size before buying any more new books!!
A good read, I was really compelled to keep turning the pages of this book. Elise is a Viennese Jew who leaves for England to work as a domestic at a stately home in the 1930s. A great sense of place, and the characters are well drawn. I didn't buy the ending 100% but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book in general. I look forward to reading more from this author

10. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (reread)

11. Among Others by Jo Walton
3 stars on Goodreads
Probably more like 3.5 stars. For the first 250 pages of the book, I was on a 4- or 5-star rating. But the last 50 or so pages just did nothing for me - it felt like all the actiony action was crammed into those pages. I liked the school parts and the discussions about books (though there was a LOT of 70s sci-fi/fantasy I haven't read) and the journal format worked well. Loved the Flanders and Swann mention, too! (I've now been singing 'Slow Train' all evening.)

Up Next or In Transit At the Library:
-Allegiance by Heather Domin (started this morning!)
-Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
-The Last Season by Eric Blehm
-The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest For Power by Geoffrey Dunn

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

Reading 2011: A Year in Review

starfishchick — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:02:52 GMT

Top Ten Reads of 2011
-Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
-Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
-Faithful Place by Tana French
-The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal Bascomb
-At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
-The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
-What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
-Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days by Douglas Brown
-The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure
-Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
bonus pick:
-Discardia: More Life, Less Stuff by Dinah Sanders

Total Read: 133, give or take

Fiction: 83
Non-Fiction: 69

Female Authors: 97
Male Authors: 56

Plays Read: 5 (so, not one a month which was my intent)

Number of rereads this year: 25 (give or take)

First book I read in 2011: All Clear by Connie Willis

Author who appears most frequently in my books-read list: Jeffery Archer

Best sequel I read this year: Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (sequel of sorts to Eat, Pray, Love)

Most useful books: The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments and Discardia: More Life, Less Stuff

Last book I read (so far) in 2011: I'm about to finish The Heart of Valor by Tanya Huff.

Under the cut is the

January
All Clear
The War Memoirs Of (HRH) Wallis, Duchess Of Windsor
The Reluctant Widow
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
No More Clutter
A Reliable Wife
The Help
Winter's Bone
Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Live as TV's Most Influential Guru Advises
The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
Lettice and Lovage
Faithful Place
High Wages
Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill

February
A Week At The Airport: A Heathrow Diary
Silver Dagger
The Plains of Passage
The Fry Chronicles
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets
The Shelters of Stone
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Cordelia's Honor
The Guinea Pig Diaries
Weddings for Grownups: Everything You Need to Know to Plan Your Wedding Your Way
Serenity: Those Left Behind
Serenity: Better Days
Stylish weddings for less : how to plan your dream wedding on a budget
Educating Esme
1001 ways to save money - and still have a dazzling wedding
Bonk: the curious coupling of science and sex

March
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Fear the Worst
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It
The Hatbox Letters
Uglies (Uglies #1)
At Home
Living History
The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

April
Remarkable Creatures
The Land of Painted Caves
Snoop
This is Water
A Little Bit Wicked
Always Looking Up
Bossypants
Arcadia
The Dinner Diaries
Julie and Julia
The Lady in the Tower
Ratha's Challenge

May
The Best American Sports Writing 1992
The Best American Sports Writing 1994
U is for Undertow
Paper Towns
The Bullpen Gospels: A Non-Prospect's Pursuit of the Major Leagues and the Meaning of Life
Doc: A Novel
Life's That Way
The White Queen
The Daughter of Time
Substitute Me
The Prince of Tides
The Little Stranger
The False Princess
The Bride's Farewell

June
The First Verse
What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal
Howard's End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading From Home
Bad Marie
Graceling
Ratha's Creature
Private Lives
In a Sunburned Country
Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days
The Master Butchers Singing Club
Into the Wild
The Happiness Project
Royal Pains
Unclutter your Life in One Week

July
The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America
The Mysterious Benedict Society
P.S. I Love You
Tooth and Claw
His Majesty's Dragon
Poison Study
Speak Softly She Can Hear
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
A Dance with Dragons

August
Let the Great World Spin
The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
Pirates! In an Adventure with Whaling
Frederica
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement
The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
The Woman Who Walked to Russia
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World

September
The Book Thief
Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness
Clara and Mr. Tiffany
Last Chance Saloon
The Daughter of Time
Unfamiliar Fishes
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
When Patty Went to College
Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture
Pirate King (Mary Russell #11)
Shanghai Girls
Eifelheim
Blood Trail
One Pair of Hands
By the Rivers of Brooklyn
Water for Elephants

October
Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
The Damned Utd
The Red Queen
Pride and Prejudice
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
The Daughter of Time
Discardia: More Life, Less Stuff
Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings
The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories
Still Alice
The Name of the Rose
Nights of the Round Table and Other Stories of Heroic Fantasy

November
Only Time Will Tell
A Prison Diary Volume 1: Hell
Come Thou Tortoise
A Prison Diary Volume 2: Purgatory
A Prison Diary Volume 3: Heaven
Beyond Reasonable Doubt
To Hold the Crown
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Attachments
The Amateur Gourmet

Actually Read in December:
Little Town on the Prairie
The Long Winter
Oleanna
The Truth of Valor
Billy's Best Bottles: Wines for 2012

Started in December:
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
The Perilous Gard

Individual reviews are available in each of the Year of Reading posts.

First planned reads of 2012, other than finishing books I started in December:
-The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life)
-The Last American Man

A Year of Reading: November 2011

starfishchick — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:02:38 GMT

1. Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
3 stars on Goodreads
The first in a new series by Archer, this is a multigenerational interwoven-families novel not unlike Kane and Abel. A fast read, sometimes frustrating to have unidentified characters but you know you'll get it from their POV later on. Left on a HELL of a cliff-hanger, but then, how could it not?

2. A Prison Diary Volume 1: Hell by Jeffrey Archer
A diary giving an inside look at the first few weeks of Jeffrey Archer's incarceration in 2001 for perjury. Archer tells the story of his days, and the stories of the other inmates who he gets to know - this being a high-security prison, these are generally people convicted of murder. Interesting stuff - I fully intend to read the second and third volumes as well.
3 stars on Goodreads

3. Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant
2 stars on Goodreads
The lack of question marks or quotation marks is annoying! (Other reviews at GoodReads indicate that I am not alone in this frustration!) This book was quirky, the word play was fun, and the tortoise narration was excellent - but all in all it went on too long with (to me) an insufficient resolution.

4. A Prison Diary Volume 2: Purgatory by Jeffrey Archer
3 stars on Goodreads
I do admit that the prison diaries get a bit repetitive, but isn't that to be expected when the author is telling the story of his time in prison? This second volume takes place in a medium-security prison and Archer meets a new group of inmates with new stories to share. I read this quickly and am moving on to the third volume.

5. A Prison Diary Volume 3: Heaven by Jeffrey Archer
3 stars on Goodreads
The closer I got to the end of this book, the more frustrated I became with the Home Office - it seemed like they were "out to get" Archer - and maybe they were and maybe they weren't - but certainly someone was willing and able to treat him unfairly by telling him after the facts what the rules of his limited release were. He had been an absolutely model prisoner and person or persons unknown just kept screwing him over (keeping him from going to a prison near his family, allowing him to teach in the prison education system, doing school visits about drugs, etc.)
Now I did not follow the trial and I am not in Britain, but it seems to me that the evidence that the judge was prejudiced against Archer was pretty obvious to sentence him to 4 years when drug and violent crimes were getting 18 months. But of course I have only read the diaries so perhaps there is something I'm missing. I ended up hugely frustrated on Archer's behalf, and then on my own, as my volume borrowed from the library was missing the 'post-script' indicated in the index. Strange!

6. Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Jeffrey Archer (play)
2 stars on Goodreads
The thing with having read so many of Jeffrey Archer's books so many times is that I knew where this was going before it got there.

7. To Hold the Crown by Jean Plaidy
2 stars on Goodreads
A Plaidy book about the Tudors that I've never read - shocking. On the back of this book it says that it's going to be the "wonderful love story" of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York - LIARS. Elizabeth is barely in this book, and when she is, she's suffering through a pregnancy or thinking that she can't have an opinion about anything because Henry wouldn't like it. (She's also trying not to think about her poor probably-dead brothers, the Princes in the Tower.) I did enjoy the characterization of Henry VII, though, he was credible and relate-able. (Other than the whole "usurped the rightful king" thing.) The book also relates the "confession" of Tyrell and the accusations against Richard III (re: Princes in the Tower) in a way I could understand and support.
As other GoodReads reviewers mentioned, 3-year-old Henry (VIII to be) speaks like an adult, and all of the narration sounds the same (voice-wise) even though there are several POV characters.

8. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
2 stars on Goodreads
Partly a memoir of writing, partly a memoir of running, this was interesting to me as a non-runner - part of what I liked is that he talks about the fact that running can be HARD. Most books about running seem to me to talk about how EASY it is. A couple of people have commented how flat this fell for them, possibly because of the translation. I didn't mind the language, but it did seem to jump around a bit - I wouldn't have minded a more linear approach.
NB: I have read about 1/3 of one of Murakami's novels and could not finish it. (Though my sister is a HUGE fan.) One of my favourite things in this book was learning that Murakami did the Japanese translations of John Irving's books - cool.

9. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
2 stars on Goodreads
2.5 if I could. At a newspaper in a small town, Lincoln (a lonely loner with no direction in life) is hired to read flagged emails and issue warnings to employees. He starts reading the chatty and not-work-appropriate emails of two best friends (Beth and Jennifer) and comes to fall in love with one of them from reading her emails. Good character growth but it went on a bit too long. And the "he stalked me, how cute is that" thing can read as creepy but the author does the characters justice in the end.

10. The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop and Table Hop Like a Pro by Adam D. Roberts (reread)
4 stars on Goodreads
Thinking about having a dinner party, I was looking for inspiration. (As well, the 'how to shop the farmers' market' chapter always makes me THINK.

Currently Reading:
-South Riding by Winifred Holtby (best friend of Vera Brittain)
First published in 1936, this is the story of people (school-mistress, alderwoman, various land-owners, farmers, etc.) and politics in the South Riding of Yorkshire in the 1930s. (The BBC made it into a mini-series this year.) I have to say, it's a little slow... and I can't keep all of the characters and their various schemes straight. I continue on.

-Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by Mary Henley Rubio
This is fascinating - I am really getting the social and culture contexts of the LMM journals, which is great. It's also interesting to learn how much of the journals were created or re-written after the fact and what was left out or left in. (The Herman Leard incidents that so much are made of were apparently much dramatized by LMM?) Learning more about Ewan's depression, LMM's obsession with World War I, and her own mental health issues is very insightful.
BUT. It's so depressing. The mental health issues and the court cases (which seem such a travesty of justice - a hard of hearing judge ignored expert testimony and determined that a car accident had caused prostate cancer and diabetes?) and the battles with her publisher are bringing me down so much it's hard to keep reading. Part of it is, I think, that I'm reluctant to know that the life of someone I admire and whose books I love so much was so sad and stress-filled.

Up Next:
No idea!!

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Zip Movies: November 2011

starfishchick — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:26:17 GMT

November 2011
-Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 Discs 2-4 (2009)
-The Ghost Writer (2010)
-Transformers (2007)
-How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
-Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
-Gunless (2010)
-Sons of Anarchy: Season 3 Discs 1 and 2 (2010)

Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 Discs 2-4 (2009)
Really incredble acting on this show. I am developing a real crush on Ron Perlman - his acting is so amazing - even though his character is so frustrating sometimes. Great writing. Recommended strongly, though it is violent. Can't wait for seasons 3 and 4.

The Ghost Writer (2010)
I had read this book on a plane and remembered almost nothing other than "ghost writer hired to write former British PM's memoirs, it takes place mostly on Martha's Vineyard, and it rains a lot". Which was about right. The movie stars Ewan McGregor as the ghost writer and Pierce Brosnan as the former British PM. The movie is great to look at (very gray, moody, etc.) and you could probably believe it was shot on Martha's Vineyard except that it was directed by Roman Polanski so of course it was shot in Europe. (Germany, in fact.) I had no idea where this was going, and it surprised me in a lot of good ways. (SFD liked it, too.)

Transformers (2007)
We rented this because someone (iseult_variante?) told us that important stuff happens at the Hoover Dam. We love the Hoover Dam and have visited it twice. (The most recent time we took the "dam tour" (heh) and really enjoyed it. Recommended if you are not claustrophbic.) Anyway, the movie was very silly and very ridiculous, and we will NOT be watching the sequel or the other sequel, but we did enjoy seeing the Hoover Dam and learning about its fake Transformers-related history. Decent CGI but plot holes big enough to drive a transformer through.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
This was absolutely awesome, and totally adorable. The voices are great - Jay Baruchel (who I don't know but apparently SFD knows from Tropic Thunder and some might know from the TV show Undeclared and who is Canadian!) was dorkily fantastic, and his father (voiced by Gerard Butler) and dragon-training boss/mentor (voiced by Craig Ferguson) were really good too. All of the supporting voice roles were good, too. The story was good, not totally predictable, and entertaining. We do not have 3-D on our TV, and for once it felt like an movie made in 3D was not falling flat (ha ha) on our screen. What I mean is, we didn't feel like we were missing out on jokes and things (hello, the amusing but very 3D-visual-gag-filled Monsters vs. Aliens and the terrible and "look what we did in 3D" Clash of the Titans remake). RECOMMENDED HIGHLY!! And they're making a sequel, apparently, due to come out in 2014. I AM ALREADY EXCITED FOR THIS.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
SFD wanted to see this, and since he had seen Walk the Line he got more of the blatant references than I did. This was so full of cliches - but it was supposed to be - and though it was a little much for me, the soundtrack/original songs were great. Very funny and (intentionally) inappropriate in parts. Particularly liked seeing Raymond J. Barry and Margo Martindale (both of whom we know from and love (Margo Martindale more than Raymond J. Barry, to be honest) in Justified) as Dewey's parents. The scene with Dewey hanging out with the Beatles and the Maharishi was also funny. And the Eddie Vedder cameo was, too. (And Dewey in his Brian Wilson 'Smile' period - "It's still not finished yet. I'm hearing... more Aboriginal percussionists. And I want an army of digeridoos. Fifty thousand digeridoos!")

Gunless (2010)
This suffered from Bad Trailer Sickness where they put all the slapstick moments (not that many) in a row and made it look farcical, and it isn't. It's a nice little movie. See more details here if you have access, or ETA: here is a shorter version:
It was decent. It was amusing but not farcical. It was sweet. The scenery (near Osoyoos, BC - which I knew nothing about) is GORGEOUS. Paul Gross as the Montana Kid has terrible terrible hair (though once it's washed/brushed it's not AS bad) but otherwise is his regular handsome self, he's funny and he's intense and brooding, he talks to his horse and his horse talks to him (a la Dief) and all in all he's great. Sienna Guillory as Jane was quite good in this. She looked amazing (of course) but she played strong and determined and her comic timing was good. Supporting cast is also good. The story could have been deeper, there was a lot more they could have done with it, but for what it is, it's pretty good.

The Tourist (2010)
If you have been to Venice and loved it, you'll want to see this for the scenery. If, like me, you have NOT been to Venice but want to, you'll want to see this for the scenery. Great costumes, great interiors and out, a really gorgeous movie to look at. There were some twists I called and that SFD had been spoiled for, but it still surprised us in a lot of ways. And? Paul Bettany is in it, wearing a suit and making exasperated faces. Fluffy but fun.

Sons of Anarchy: Season 3 Discs 1 and 2 (2010)
So far the plot is not as strong as S1 and S2 - SFD and I are both not sure we're following the Irish plot, but still - great writing, acting, etc. Ron Perlman continues to shine for me - I love the way he plays Clay, especially to Katey Segal's Gemma.

Currently Out From Zip:
-Sons of Anarchy: Season 3 Disc 3 (2010)
-127 Hours (2010)
-Sexy Beast (2001)

Anything you've watched lately that you recommend - or don't recommend?

A Year of Zip Movies: October 2011

starfishchick — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:41:13 GMT

October 2011
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 Discs 1-4 (2009)
-The Next Three Days (2010)
-The Philadelphia Story (1940)
-Primal Fear (1996)
-To Catch A Thief (1955)
-Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009)
-Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 Disc 1 (2009)

Having trouble with cut-tags, please bear with me!! Reviews are under this cut:

Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 Discs 1-4 (2009)
A good ending to the series, generally speaking. The final episode had WAY too many endings (like The Return of the King) but ultimately we were satisfied.

The Next Three Days (2010)
I really wanted to see the original French movie (Pour elle - 2008) before seeing this remake, but that did not work out. Russell Crowe is good in this as the husband trying to figure out how to break his wife out of prison - I enjoy break-in/break-out planning movies and this delivered. I also liked the authentic Pittsburgh setting and scenery. Lots of twists and a lot that we did not see coming - which is good!! Too bad that Oliva Wilde was so highly billed - she is barely in it - or we might have seen it in the theatre!

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
This is the movie that forced me to admit that most ~classics~ just don't do it for me. I was really bored during this movie - only when Cary Grant was on screen could it hold my interest - and actually fell asleep partway through. I didn't re-watch when I woke up.

Primal Fear (1996)
This is a legal drama with Richard Gere and Laura Linney (and a bunch of people who we know from other things like John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand, Terry O'Quinn, Andre Braugher, Maura Tierney, Jon Seda, etc.) and introducing Edward Norton as the alter boy who allegedly murdered the archbishop. If for nothing else, watch this for Edward Norton's performance. (This was his first movie role and he's FANTASTIC in it.) Now I am all jaded and called a bunch of plot points within the first 15 minutes - and ended up right on most of them, and you might, too - but watch it anyway. You might still be surprised at where the movie goes - I was! The plot meanders a bit but Edward Norton is mesmerizing and Richard Gere is good, too.

To Catch A Thief (1955)
Grace Kelly's character was kind of kooky in this - and we figured it was because she was the infamous cat-burglar "The Cat" trying to cover her tracks. Well, we were wrong. Apparently her character is just wacky. This was weird - the casting of a guy who speaks only French (the movie does take place in France) but then they cover his face all the time so as to dub him was annoying. AND - the opening sequence clearly shows that Cary Grant IS AN ACTUAL CAT (shape-shifter) but they never follow up on that.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009)
This is mostly a clip show of moments during the series combined with new footage from the Cylon point of view. A good concept, and we liked it.

Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 Disc 1 (2009)
Ah, my bad-boy-bikers, some of whom have hearts of gold. (And even those who don't are endearing, somehow.)

Currently out from Zip:
-Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 Discs 2-4 (2009)
-The Ghost Writer (2010)

[Watched so far this year: The African Queen, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), Frozen River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Battlestar Galactica season 2.5, Cool Hand Luke, The Blind Side, An Education, The Endurance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Single Man, Shock Corridor, 2012, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, American Splendor, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Easy A, Toy Story 3, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, His Girl Friday, Green Zone, The Big Sleep, Moon, Shutter Island, Winter's Bone, Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, Justice League Unlimited Season 1, North by Northwest, MI-5 Season 1, Cranford, Justice League Unlimited: Season 2, Planet Earth Disc 1, Tangled, Clash of the Titans (2010), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The September Issue, Over The Edge, Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1, Never Let Me Go, The Laughing Policeman, Hustle Season 1 Disc 1, Gran Torino, -Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Princess and the Frog, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4, The Book of Eli, The Kids Are All Right, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5, The Next Three Days, The Philadelphia Story, Primal Fear, To Catch A Thief, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 Disc 1]

A Year of Reading: October 2011

starfishchick — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:07:43 GMT

I'm having trouble with LJ cut-tags (I swear my HTML coding is right but it's just not working if I try to put more than one word as cut-text) so here are the titles reviewed/discussed beneath the cut:

-Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
-The Damned Utd
-The Red Queen
-Pride and Prejudice
-Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
-The Daughter of Time
-Discardia: More Life, Less Stuff
-Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings
-The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories
-Still Alice
-The Name of the Rose
-Nights of the Round Table and Other Stories of Heroic Fantasy

1. Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line by Martha A. Sandweiss
2 stars on Goodreads
This is the story of a famous 19th century geologist and explorer Clarence King - who dined with Presidents and was generally a hugely respected and admired man ... and his secret life that he spent "passing" as a black man, married to a black woman and fathering a handful of mixed-race children. Meticulously researched, but I found it slow-going most of the way through.

2. The Damned Utd by David Peace
I can't give this a fair star rating, since I barely read any of it. I picked it up because I liked the movie based on it, but the novel is written as a stream of consciousness (with flashbacks throughout) and I could barely read more than a handful of pages before I had to stop.

3. The Red Queen (The Cousins' War #2) by Philippa Gregory
3 stars on Goodreads
** spoiler alert - for historical events** I am trying really hard not to give this book a bad grade simply because the main character (Margaret of Beaufort) is possibly the most insufferable person in English history - or at least in the War of the Roses. (I hadn't much enjoyed The White Queen but at least Elizabeth Woodville was somewhat likeable, even with all the deus ex witchery going on in that book.)

But this Margaret Beaufort is just plain annoying. I didn't mind her stubbornness and single-mindedness at the start, when she was a child and I even felt some sympathy to her and the Lancaster side over the treatment of Henry VI (though I am a Yorkist by birth) but Margaret as a narrator and character is so repetitive and frustrating that I wanted to go back in time and smack her. If I had to hear one more time about Elizabeth Woodville being a witch (not likely) and a whore (not really) and that Margaret's son was meant to be king (mmm, arguable) and that God was on Margaret's side* (oh shut up!) I was going to scream!
*I never could get her argument to make sense ... she feels she is guided by God, because she thinks God wants her son to be king, but somehow God only ever guides her to do what she wants to do anyway!

She gives the death order for the two princes, but when the plot to kill them doesn't work, she then decides that she needs 'a sign' to prove that they should be left alive. How about the fact that your plot to kill them FAILED? How's that for a sign?? Also, just because you didn't kill them (though gave the order) doesn't mean that you are not guilty! Argh!! (Also, I thought that Hastings was not executed immediately, I thought that had been pretty throughly debunked?)

Anyway. Margaret was throughly unlikeable, and I felt more sympathy for Richard III than ever before!!

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3 stars on Goodreads
I read the first 100 pages on my iPod touch, I have switched to a paper copy for the rest. (The iPod takes too long and strains my eyes!)
(later) Finished!! I have to say, I didn't love it. I think if I had not known the story ahead of time it might have helped - there was no drama as to what would happen since the story is so well-known. There was no suspense for me, which was too bad. (And I was extremely frustrated that Wickham and Lydia just kept being bratty.) But it was my goal to read a Jane Austen novel, and I did!!
(Friends on GoodReads are encouraging me to read Persuasion - and I might do that!)

5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (reread)
4 stars on Goodreads
Originally read in the mid-2000s. (It came out in 2004.)
Reread October 2011 after seeing the movie. Totally worth the reread - a great look at Oakland, Billy Beane, and the ideas behind 'moneyball'.

6. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (reread)
This was to get the taste of The Red Queen out of my head.

7. Discardia: More Life, Less Stuff by Dinah Sanders self-published. But you can get it as an e-book in various formats (if you are into that kind of thing) or at Amazon.com - or from here.
4 stars on Goodreads
More detailed thoughts/summary here. Not another "throw out your crap" book. The main principles are: 1. Decide and Do. 2. Quality Over Quantity and 3. Perpetual Upgrade.

8. Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir
4 stars on Goodreads
Maybe. Perhaps. Possibly. Are you getting the idea? There is really not a lot in the historical record about Mary Boleyn, but Alison Weir does a great job of looking up and explaining lots of tiny bits of information in order to build what she feels - and I believe her - is a clearer picture of Mary than we have had before.
Alison Weir does not hold back in criticizing other works (fiction - ahem, Philippa Gregory - or non-fiction) or correcting her own previous assumptions. Authors through the years have described Mary Boleyn's feelings, looks, motives, and more - we don't actually know what she looked like, felt, or intended.
And would you be surprised to learn that there might be descendants of Henry VIII still running around out there in the world?
Really I'd give this 3.5, I didn't love it, but it was better that a 3.

9. The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories by Barbara M. Walker
4 stars on Goodreads
Very well-researched, it's a history of food and food preparation as much as it is a cookbook. So much lard in everything, though! (Which, of course there was, but still.)

10. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
4 stars on Goodreads
This was a good read, and it went very quickly. I read it in a few hours. I really felt like I was in the head of Alice, forgetting things and getting confused. I spent the rest of the day after I read it freaked out that I had Alzeimers, too!

11. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (still reading)
I am more than halfway through this book, and I really don't like it. Nothing is happening! It is very boring. I agree with the review here!!

12. Nights of the Round Table and Other Stories of Heroic Fantasy by Tanya Huff
4 stars on Goodreads
A collection of short stories published in collections elsewhere - which I don't generally buy for Just One Tanya Huff Story - so it was great for me to get this e-collection. I hadn't read any of these stories before and I really enjoyed most of them! Favourites were 'A Woman's Work' and 'Slow Poison'.

Currently Reading:
-The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco but I am thinking seriously of giving it up. (But I've read over 300 pages! How can I stop now? But I don't like it!!)

Up Next:
-Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer (on hold at the library)

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Zip Movies: September 2011 (belated!)

starfishchick — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:27:40 GMT

Not sure why this didn't get posted at the end of September, but here it is now.

September 2011
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 (2008)
-The Book of Eli (2010)
-The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 (2008)
Still amusing, well-acted, intense at parts, and entertaining. I was stupid enough to let myself get spoiled - in looking for clarification of something I found out huge MASSIVE spoilers, which kind of ruined most of the suspense for me - but still, this is a great ride.

The Book of Eli (2010)
The look and feel of this post-apocalyptic world were great. I really wanted more backstory - what happened, when, how, etc. - but it wasn't really necessary. (I just wanted to KNOW.) The bad guys are a bit cardboard but as a whole this was better than expected.

The Kids Are All Right (2010)
This movie was sweet, funny, touching, stressful, and interesting. I think it's a great thing to show that same-sex couples can (and usually do) have the same issues as hetero couples - communication, trust, etc.
I'm not sure how I feel about the 'resolution' for the Mark Ruffalo character, I certainly wasn't ready for the movie to end when and where it did. But all the acting was great and on that alone I recommend it.

Currently out from Zip:
-To Catch A Thief (1955)
-Primal Fear (1996)
-Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009)
-Sons of Anarchy Season 2 Disc 1 (2009)

[Watched so far this year: The African Queen, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), Frozen River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Battlestar Galactica season 2.5, Cool Hand Luke, The Blind Side, An Education, The Endurance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Single Man, Shock Corridor, 2012, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, American Splendor, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Easy A, Toy Story 3, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, His Girl Friday, Green Zone, The Big Sleep, Moon, Shutter Island, Winter's Bone, Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, Justice League Unlimited Season 1, North by Northwest, MI-5 Season 1, Cranford, Justice League Unlimited: Season 2, Planet Earth Disc 1, Tangled, Clash of the Titans (2010), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The September Issue, Over The Edge, Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1, Never Let Me Go, The Laughing Policeman, Hustle Season 1 Disc 1, Gran Torino, -Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Princess and the Frog, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4, The Book of Eli, The Kids Are All Right, The Next Three Days, Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 Discs 1-4, The Philadelphia Story]

A Year of Reading: September 2011

starfishchick — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:37:31 GMT

1. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (gave up)
1 star on Goodreads
I got through about 10 pages of this before I put it down. I know people seem to (almost) universally love it, but the style of writing was really jarring and unpleasant for me.

2. Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracey Kidder
3 stars on Goodreads
Heart-breaking, brutal, tragic, and necessary. A Burundian refugee in New York City, and his life before, during, and after the genocides (yes, plural) he survived.

3. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland (gave up)
1 star on Goodreads
Less interesting than I had hoped. Honestly, it was the Tiffany glass connection that drew me in, but I am finding that I don't really care about Clara at all. Gave up after 70 pages.

4. Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes (reread)

5. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (reread)

6. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
3 stars on Goodreads
This was interesting and generally entertaining but I did not love it like I thought I would - or as much as other books by Sarah Vowell. I knew nothing about Hawaii when I started reading, and I do think I learned a little by the time I finished the book. (Yay!) The last quarter of the book felt sort of aimless, which is too bad, it kind of left a boring taste in my mouth when I know that the beginning and middle were much better than that.

7. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
4 stars on Goodreads
I really did enjoy this book. I *strongly* wish it had photos - even with the descriptions, I could not really imagine the terrain they were running through/over and it would have helped me.
I found the chapters about evolutionary anthropology, the history of the running shoe, and the arguments for running barefoot interesting even though I really did want to get back to The Big Race. And I was fascinated by the chapters about the ultra-marathon runners and the some-might-say-'batshit-crazy'-let's-go-with-'interesting' people who compete in them. Recommended to runners and non-runners alike!

8. When Patty Went to College by Jean Webster
2 stars on Goodreads
I love Daddy LongLegs by the same author, and I like school stories, so I thought I'd give this a try. It was only OK. Patty gets into scrapse - and drags her friends into scrapes with her - and at the end of every chapter I expected everyone to say "OH THAT PATTY" with a knowing grin.
The moralising chapter at the end where Patty gets told by the bishop that skipping church, lying, and generally being a troublemaker (with a good heart nonetheless) was creepy and although likely true to the era in which it was written, it upset me. (Soon Patty will be 30, then 40, then 50 - and "do you think that a woman of that age is attractive if she deals in subterfuges and evations?")
Also, I read this off Project Gutenberg, and it seemed to me that some of it was missing - sentences beginning out of nowhere, etc.

9. Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture by Anita Clair Fellman
2 stars on Goodreads
I had to return this to the library before I was finished, but I did read or skim most of it. (I had it for 6 weeks so I should have/could have finished it if I'd really wanted to.) It was a little dry, honestly, and dated in that there are a fair few references to people who talk about LIW and the books ON THE INTERNET!! Hee.
But I did feel I had gotten a lot of the information (Laura and her daughter Rose were collaborators, etc.) from Wendy McClure's 'The Wilder Life' which was what pushed me to read this book in the first place.
I'd like to get this back and try to finish it.

10. Pirate King (Mary Russell, #11) by Laurie R. King
2 stars on Goodreads
This was ... fluffy. I was pretty disappointed.

11. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
3 stars on Goodreads
Entertaining read about two sisters who go from being 'beautiful girls' in 1930s Shanghai - the Paris of Asia - and whose lives are turned upside-down through family problems and then because of war.
This book was hard to read - the things the sisters go through are very upsetting. (And pretty much everyone in the book is a mean, nasty person!)
The ending was very disappointing - I found out after finishing it that there is a sequel, so I might pick that up and pretend they are just one book.

12. Eifelheim by Michael Flynn
2 stars on Goodreads
This is a 'first-contact' story in which the usual sci-fi plot of tech-advanced humans meet primitive aliens, these are tech-advanced aliens who have crash-landed in 1350s Germany.
I feel like I should like this more than I do, but the pacing is very slow, I can't keep track of the characters, and I keep waiting for the modern-timeline people to have an AHA moment. Nothing yet.
After finishing: the AHA moment came, and then ... nothing happened. I felt as if the book was a very long prologue to a modern story that might be interesting, except that I didn't like Tom, or Sharon, or Judy.
Great first-contact idea, but this really didn't excite me in any way. Also, I know nothing about physics so all of the science stuff was lost on me. Maybe that affected my enjoyment?

13. Blood Trail by Tanya Huff (reread)

14. One Pair of Hands by Monica Dickens (started in August)
3 stars on Goodreads
Generally entertaining account of Monica Dickens - a debutante from a well-off family - who goes out into the world to work as a cook in various homes in England.

15. By the Rivers of Brooklyn by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole
3 stars on Goodreads
A multi-generational story of family, loss, choices and consequences - the story of siblings who move to Brooklyn from Newfoundland.
This was OK. I read it in a few days but there were times when I couldn't keep the characters straight. Also, things I wanted to know about when they were alluded to (shock treatments?) were never mentioned again.
Some really great insights, as well as interesting inter-personal relationships.

16. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2 stars on Goodreads
A quick read, the story itself was pretty obvious - having seen the trailer for the movie didn't help that - and I found the characters a little one-dimensional, but the setting was really interesting and the author clearly did a tonne of research.

Currently Reading:
-Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (on my iPod touch)

Up Next:
-Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line by Martha A. Sandweiss
-The Damned Utd by David Peace (because the movie was awesome)

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Zip Movies: August 2011

starfishchick — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:54:09 GMT

August
-Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1 (2008) for SFD
-Never Let Me Go (2010)
-The Laughing Policeman (1973)
-Hustle Season 1 Disc 1 (2004)
-Gran Torino (2008)
-Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) (documentary)
-Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2008)
-The Princess and the Frog (2009)

*ETA: Sons of Anarchy Season 1

-Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1 (2008) for SFD
SFD only. He liked it fine.

-Never Let Me Go (2010)
I found this movie beautiful, and moving, but still somehow missing something. I think it's related to the story as a whole, because I felt the same way about the book, which I read two years ago. The 'twist' is much more clear in the movie than in the book - I suppose my issues are that no one tries to do anything about what is coming. They just quietly accept their fate, which I found frustrating but that is the way Ishiguro wrote it so that is the way it is. The premise - the lives of 'students' at a boarding school who will grow up to be 'donors', 'carers', and 'to complete' (all euphamisms) - is really interesting and beautifully shot. All of the acting is very good, Carey Mulligan is particularly wonderful. Not at all gory. Recommended.

-The Laughing Policeman (1973)
SFD mostly watched this one, I was in the room but not paying that much attention. 1970s detective drama starring Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, and Louis Gossett Jr.

-Hustle Season 1 Disc 1 (2004)
Recommended by listersgirl because she knows I like heist stories. We were so-so on this. The first episode was a bit annoying but we liked the second and third ones better. We intend to watch the rest of the season at some point.

-Gran Torino (2008)
Angry angry Clint Eastwood still carries around all of the anger he has from being in the Korean War. (Or he was angry before he went, and the war didn't change him?) His wife has just died, his sons are involved in their own lives and have jerk children themselves - (who lets their son wear a Detroit Lions jersey to his grandmother's funeral?) - not that Clint has any interest in them anyway - and the new next-door neighbours are 'gooks'. (His words, not mine.) As it turns out, they are Hmong, and - as you expect - Clint grows to have a grumpy-uncle-type relationship with them. But a gang is trying to mess around with his new family! Clint must act! And he does. Great performances from Clint and all of the Hmong actors, but the plot was pretty linear and you can pretty much call the highlights/lowlights/inevitable ending from quite far out. I did like this more than I expected to.

-Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) (documentary)
This was GREAT. I have no real knowledge of Rush or the band members other than that they are Canadian and have been together for ages. (I could name you two songs: 'Working Man' and 'Tom Sawyer'.) But I learned so much from this documentary. It was really fantastic. (Though may I say how weird it is to see musician/rock stars like Kirk Hammett (from Metallica*) and Trent Reznor (who in my mind is like the pre-Marilyn-Manson) looking like average guys who drive minivans and have backyard BBQs. Every time they showed Trent Reznor (in particular) I did a triple-take.)
*I knew a bit about Metallica from the documentary Some Kind of Monster, which I also recommend.

-Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2008) (TV movie)
I think we would have been fine moving on to season 4 without seeing this, but it was still entertaining enough. It's a flashback (with flashbacks in it) to stuff that happened offscreen in an earlier season, and it explains some of the motivations of characters we didn't get to know very well in the original airing.

-The Princess and the Frog (2009)
This was an animated romantic comedy - I liked it fine. The animation was really beautiful. The music was OK - I couldn't sing you any of the songs the next morning. I thought the voicework was great, Anika Noni Rose as Tiana was really good. I thought a lot of the shadow animation was really frightening - I would have been terrified seeing it as a child.

ETA: Also, we watched the first season of Sons of Anarchy - it was excellent. Addictive, nuanced, funny, just all-around good. But violent.

Currently out from Zip:
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 - Volume 1 Disc 2 (2008)
-The Book of Eli (2010)

[Watched so far this year: The African Queen, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), Frozen River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Battlestar Galactica season 2.5, Cool Hand Luke, The Blind Side, An Education, The Endurance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Single Man, Shock Corridor, 2012, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, American Splendor, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Easy A, Toy Story 3, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, His Girl Friday, Green Zone, The Big Sleep, Moon, Shutter Island, Winter's Bone, Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, Justice League Unlimited Season 1, North by Northwest, MI-5 Season 1, Cranford, Justice League Unlimited: Season 2, Planet Earth Disc 1, Tangled, Clash of the Titans (2010), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The September Issue, Over The Edge, Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1, Never Let Me Go, The Laughing Policeman, Hustle Season 1 Disc 1, Gran Torino, -Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Princess and the Frog]

A Year of Reading: August 2011

starfishchick — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:51:44 GMT

1. Let the Great World Spin by by Colum McCann
1 star on Goodreads
Gave up after 40 pages, because wow, I did not care at all.

2. The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz
4 stars on Goodreads
Clearly written, easy (at least so far) recipes - definitely a keeper!

3. Pirates! In an Adventure with Whaling by Gideon Dafoe
3 stars on Goodreads
Amusing, a quick read.

4. Frederica by Georgette Heyer
3 stars on Goodreads
I did like this, especially for the first 200 pages or so. And then ... it just dragged until the end. And if there was any question or even drama as to whether the Marquis and Frederica would end up together ... no, there was not.

5. The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy MacClure
4 stars on Goodreads
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the Little House books as a child and young adult, and I read along with interest as Wendy McClure started to find out more about the facts behind the books. (I knew as little as she did, I was equally surprised to learn what was "true" and what was "fact".) Recommended!
(And yes, I just started Google-mapping a roadtrip to the Rocky Ridge Laura Ingalls Wilder site to be piggy-backed on to a trip to St. Louis we plan to take someday!)

6. Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Twelve Self-Help Programs, One Whirlwind Year of Improvement by Beth Lisick
2 stars on Goodreads
I was optimistic about this book in which the author spent a year trying to improve herself by reading one self-help book a month and asking gurus for their help in improving certain areas of her life. But I have to honestly say I was disappointed - and not least of my reasons was that she kept spending money (on a Richard Simmons weight-loss cruise! on a trip to Italy with her family!) that she COULD NOT AFFORD - to the point at which she could not pay her mortgage. Not good.
And she skipped two months out of her "year" ... the fashion month and the sex month. Really a let-down.

7. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan (reread)
5 stars on Goodreads
Reread. Some excellent essays; I haven't loved some of Amy Tan's later books, but this book of essays makes me love HER.

8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman (reread)
4 stars on Goodreads
Reread. (Because we watched 'Gran Torino' which features a Hmong family.)
Fadiman writes brilliantly, but everyone in the book drives me crazy. I feel guilty about being annoyed by the Hmong, and feel like I should be patient with them, because they are displaced people and there is a huge language barrier, but on the other hand, if they are so skeptical and against Western medicine, why do they keep taking Lia to the hospital? And where are the services to teach them English? And for an area with such a large Hmong community, why do there seem to be no services for them? But if the services are there but not used or wanted ... SIGH.

9. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson (reread)
4 stars on Goodreads
Reread. Original review: Contrary to popular belief, this book did NOT make me want to hike the Appalachian Trail, but it did make me want to hike in general terms. (And punch Katz in the head, but that's neither here nor there.) I enjoyed the read, but even more so when I was on a comfortable couch with a blanket and running water.
Re-read in one go, Sunday morning, August 21 2011. Katz is much less annoying to me this time around.

10. The Woman Who Walked to Russia by Cassandra Pybus
2 stars on Goodreads
I was intrigued by the title and there were some parts of this book that I found interesting - the descriptions of the landscape and the stories of the people they meet are great - but overall I was frustrated by this book.
The story of Lillian ("the woman who walked to Russia") turns out to be a non-story, really. The author's telling of her research and her imagined stories were interesting, though.
The other aspect of the book, the so-called "Thelma and Louise" aspect - was uneven. Thelma and Louise at least liked each other - I got no such impression about Cassandra (the author) and Gerry (her long-lost friend and driver). And the lack of resolution about what happened to Gerry after she and Cassandra went their separate ways (without even a footnote or an afterword) sucked.
Also, the map in the front of the book was next to useless when the author was naming places and describing them, I wanted to know where they were - and most of them were not on the map! (As well, the map has notations in its legend that appear NOWHERE on the map in question. Frustrating.)

11. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
3 stars on Goodreads
Entertaining, and an interesting premise - does geography dictate (or at least influence) happiness? The author travelled to happy and unhappy places and tried to talk to people about their happiness and happiness in their country. A lot of contradictory conclusions, but I learned a lot about different places - like Bhutan.

Up Next:
-One Pair of Hands by Monica Dickson (currently reading)
-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
-Strength in What Remains: a Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!

A Year of Zip Movies: June and July 2011

starfishchick — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:14:25 GMT

June (1 movie, 2 1/3 TV shows) - severely limited due to postal strike
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 Disc 5 (2006)
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 Disc 6 (2006)
-Justice League Unlimited Discs Season 1 (for SFD)
-North by Northwest (1959)

-Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 Disc 5 and Disc 6
I have to confess - I was was totally spoiled for the last two discs of this season. I went looking for one thing, got minorly spoiled, then spoiled myself entirely. And I still enjoyed the show! Sometimes a little light on logic but always entertaining.

-North by Northwest (1959)
With Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. It's a classic, and I should like it better than I do, but it was too long. The style of film-making at the time (showing everything, people walking, driving, etc.) is quite boring to someone used to quicker transitions.

Borrowed from listersgirl and the university library during the postal strike/lockout:
-MI-5 Season 1
-Cranford

-MI-5 Season 1
This was entertaining - British agents fight terrorism in England. I can see why it's compared to 24, with compressed plots and action, but this show does take time for characters to grow, have personal lives, etc. I don't need to watch more seasons, but am glad I watched this one.

-Cranford
Village life in 1840s Cranford is dominated by women, and the village is turned on its ear with the arrival of a new (young! handsome! like a baby Paul Bettany!) doctor and the possibility of the railroad coming to town. Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, and Eileen Atkins are the big names, but everyone in this is well-cast and an excellent choice. (Try not to get too attached to any of the characters, a good handful will be taken from you with very little warning!)

July (6 movies, 1 1/3 TV shows)
-Justice League Unlimited: Season 2 (SFD only)
-Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series (Disc 1: Pole to Pole, Mountains, Fresh Water) (2006)
-Tangled (2010)
-Clash of the Titans (2010)
-Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)
-The September Issue (2009)
-Justice League Unlimited: Season 2 Disc 2 (SFD only)
-Over The Edge (1979) (mostly SFD)

-Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series (Disc 1: Pole to Pole, Mountains, Fresh Water) (2006)
This was really interesting and gorgeous to look at. We aren't sure how much knowledge we retained but it was beautiful to watch. The behind-the-scenes "how they got this stuff on film" was great, too. We really do need a better TV to really grasp the scope of the shots, though.

-Tangled (2010)
I had seen this in the theatre but wanted to see it again and thought SFD might enjoy it. (He did.) I think Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy all do great voice work and the songs are fun and singable. I liked and agree with the New York Times review about the evilness of the Mother, the beauty of the animation, and the nothing-special chase and animated gags, but don't let that mislead you - I really like this movie.

-Clash of the Titans (2010)
Urg, this was so bad. And not even bad in that campy and fun "so bad it's ridiculous therefore it's kind of good" way. It was just bad. Boring, bland, CGI-crazy, and ... they changed so much FROM GREEK MYTH PEOPLE! Including that Zeus raped Danaë (Perseus' mother) while in the guise of her husband (not in a cloud of gold as per the myth) and the husband therefore tried to kill her for infidelity WITH (as far as she knew) HIMSELF. AND - Perseus didn't end up with Andromeda. WTF.

-Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)
With Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, and introducing Katharine Houghton. When I told my parents we were watching this, my Dad called it "an oldy and a mouldy", and I am not sure if I agree or not. The script was odd - is it a comedy? Is it a drama? It was hard to tell. And honestly I found Joey (the daughter who comes home with her met-him-a-week-or-so-ago-fiance Sidney Poitier) really irritating. I love that her parents are so liberal, and that it's not a racist thing, it's really their concern for how difficult it will be for Joey and John (Sidney Poitier) to live in a world that generally will not accept their relationship. (Remember this was made in 1967 - there hadn't even been an inter-racial kiss on TV yet!) So I think this was probably an important film at the time, and there is value in seeing it now, but it's WAY too long and the script isn't sure enough of what it is trying to say, in my opinion. (Is John's mother's argument really that men forget that passion is ... passionate?)

-The September Issue (2009)
This is a documentary about Anna Wintour (Vogue's editor-in-chief) and the making of the September 2007 (super-big, super-big-deal) issue of Vogue magazine. I really liked this, I thought it was fascinating, and it really made The Devil Wears Prada (which I also liked) seem much more ... something. Realistic? Maybe. Anna Wintour wasn't making crazy demands like her fictional counterpart in The Devil Wears Prada but she certainly does crap on all the decisions of her staff, including people who seem very talented, like the frumpy-dressing (at Vogue!) and brilliant stylist Grace Coddington.* (I'm not sure what talents Anna Wintour has, other than making awesome "bitch are you for real" faces and saying "NO" to her minions' work.) Anna Wintour also seems pretty unhappy most of the time - the part where she talks about how 'successful' her siblings are and that no one thinks she is worth anything because she works in fashion was quite revealing, I thought. I had sort of hoped the documentary would address the disconnect between the fashion on the runway and in magazines and the kinds of clothes people wear in their day to day lives, but it wasn't that kind of documentary, and that's OK. (They also didn't go much into Wintour's love for fur It is what it is, and I liked it a lot. (*I agree with this EW review that "if Wintour is the film's subject, its true heroine is Grace Coddington".) Recommended.

-Over The Edge (1979) (mostly SFD)
Based on a true story, this is about the people who live in a planned suburban community which hasn't accounted for the fact that there are kids/teens living there who are bored stupid, and find their own ways to amuse themselves: alcohol, drugs, property destruction, and hooliganism. SFD wanted to see this, it's apparently a cult favourite, and thought it had some amusing lines - and amusing fashion/hair choices - it did not do much for me. Starring a very young Matt Dillon!

[Watched so far this year: The African Queen, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), Frozen River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Battlestar Galactica season 2.5, Cool Hand Luke, The Blind Side, An Education, The Endurance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Single Man, Shock Corridor, 2012, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, American Splendor, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Easy A, Toy Story 3, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, His Girl Friday, Green Zone, The Big Sleep, Moon, Shutter Island, Winter's Bone, Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, Justice League Unlimited Season 1, North by Northwest, MI-5 Season 1, Cranford, Justice League Unlimited: Season 2, Planet Earth Disc 1, Tangled, Clash of the Titans (2010), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The September Issue, Over The Edge]

A Year of Reading: July 2011

starfishchick — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:46:13 GMT

1. The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks by Stuart McLean
Essay collection from Stuart McLean. I gave up on this, it wasn't holding my attention. I might try again some day, nothing was really holding my attention in the midst of wedding-planning madness.

2. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan
This is a book about Teddy Roosevelt and the rise of conservationism (establishing national parks, etc.) in America. It was interesting in some ways but I got almost 100 pages in and the fire had only shown up in the prologue, and I gave up.

3. The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society #1) by Trenton Lee Stewart
3 stars on Goodreads
This reminded me of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books, but not nearly as bleak and depressing. I enjoyed this, there was some fun wordplay and the puzzles were interesting - I can see kids really enjoying this book. (It went on a bit long, though, with nothing really happening - I think it could have been tightened up a bit.)

4. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
2 stars on Goodreads
The premise was interesting but this book was WAY too long and rambled through unimportant and uninteresting events (the brother's documentary about drunk club girls, the vacation to Spain, etc.) and changed POV for no reason from time to time. There was no reason this book had to be 500 pages long. URG. (But I finished it in a day or so you can imagine how much I skimmed.)

5. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
3 stars on Goodreads
I gave it three stars, but really it was more like three and a half. This is dragons-in-a-Regency-romance plot, and it was very well done - until the end where it totally deus ex machina-ed itself... just like a Regency romance! :)
Recommended.

6. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (reread)
4 stars on Goodreads

7. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
3 stars on Goodreads
Interesting premise, but I really had no interest in reading any more in the series. (And I called two major points quite early on.)

8. Speak Softly, She Can Hear by Pam Lewis
1 star on Goodreads
Interesting premise but not all that thrilling. I hated all of the characters and couldn't tell the difference between the 50s, 60s, and 70s even though the publisher's blurb says this book "sweep[s] across decades, moving from New York to Vermont to California and back again". Carole was way too naive, especially about Naomi and Eddie's relationship. I kept skim-reading as I had nothing else to read, but I cannot recommend this.

9. A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
1 stars on Goodreads
I'm not liking this at all!! But so many people loved it! Sigh. I gave up before I hit 100 pages.

10. A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
3 stars on Goodreads
Spoilery, so see my review here. Or see this much more awesome review instead.

Up Next:
-The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz
-Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
-Cool Water by Dianne Warren

What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!