What are you reading?

Films, TV shows, and books of the 'modern' era
JulieMarch4th
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Location: Northern Virginia

Post by JulieMarch4th »

Anne, I enjoyed Nora's Born In series, too -- I read them several years ago. (I think I read them out of order, but don't tell anyone.)

I'd heard there was an option on the In Death series by Mel Gibson's company, but it's fallen through. I always thought I could see Sarah Jessica Parker as Mavis? What do you think? Roark is a tough one to cast, he's written as perfection!

Moira - I plowed through Rosamund Pulcher's books several years ago, and love her descriptions of Scotland and Cornwall. I've toured bits of Scotland, and REALLY want to go to Cornwall. I haven't seen Winter Solstice, but enjoyed the book. Her daughter, Robin, is also writing.

JohnM --I have heard so many good things about Josephine Tey, and I have not read any of them. Which one is good to start with?

Julie
JulieMarch4th
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Location: Northern Virginia

Post by JulieMarch4th »

JohnM

Thanks! I'll look for all three, and see what I can find.
Julie
Mr. Arkadin
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Hollis
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Joined: April 15th, 2007, 4:38 pm

John Grisham

Post by Hollis »

Hi Moira,

I've just started reading John Grisham's 18th novel (and his first work of non-fiction) "The Innocent Man." The style of writing he has so engrossingly used in his fictional work is so far just as effective in this true story. I've read 9 of his titles to date (having only discovered him this past winter) with my favorite being "A Painted House." I don't know that I've ever enjoyed an author more than I have Mr. Grisham. He single-handedly renewed my interest in reading after allowing it to lapse for far too long.

Hollis
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

I just this morning finished the book version of "Laura" that we were discussing on the books to film thread. It was minor, but good.

Before that I read the latest in the Dalziel/Pascoe mystery series, "Death Comes for the Fat Man." It was excellent, as all of Reginald Hill's works seem to be. These books a worlds better than the anemic British TV version shown on "Mystery." The plots are very well thought out, and the characterizations are very skilled. Each entry in the series builds on the last, and the characters are by now fully fleshed and complex individuals. Hill is one of my favorite contemporary mystery writers.

I am also halfway through the latest in the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series (Alexander McCall Smith). This one is called "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive." If you aren't familiar with this series, I'll tell you that it is set in contemporary Botswana, and tells of a woman who decides to go into business for herself by opening up a detective agency to discreetly handle the problems of ladies, who would be otherwise embarrassed to go to a male agent.

The mysteries involved are very mild - these books all about the characters, and they are lovely. Some of my friends don't like these books which, although short (novellas, really, not novels) are very wordy. But that is because we get deeply into the thoughts of the major characters, and they are very real and likeable people. My daughter and I were talking just today about what a film of this series would be like, and who should play the leads. Someone like a serious Whoopi Goldberg (as she was on Star Trek) would be good for the heroine, Precious Ramotswe, but she'd have to be bigger (heavier and taller), and a bit younger, actually. Maybe Queen Latifa. Precious frequently refers to herself as a "traditionally built" African woman. I guess that makes me a traditionally built Ibut short) Brooklyn woman.

This series is one I'd recommend. The stories are short, pleasant, easy reads. The subject matter is fascinating - you will learn about Botswana, its customs and its people, and about the emerging status of African women. There is humor as well, and always a bit of peril the main characters have to overcome before there is a happy ending. I'm especially impressed that a male writer can so accurately portray his woman characters.
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Moraldo Rubini
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Sweet and Low

Post by Moraldo Rubini »

I just finished reading Sweet and Low: A Family Story by Rich Cohen. It's the story of the family that invented the sugar packet and then the sugar substitute SweetNLow. It had some fascinating passages regarding the history of Brooklyn, the jewish migration to New York, the history of dieting and the sugar industry. But the family dynamics and turmoil (and mix-up with the mafia) made for some stultifying reading. Mr. Cohen has wit and sometimes a way with words (and sometimes he just gives a good college try). I'd read more of his work in hopes of finding something more consistently enjoyable.
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moira finnie
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Josephine Tey's "Daughter of Time"

Post by moira finnie »

JohnM,
Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time is probably my all time favorite mystery, especially since it blends the subject of English history with a mystery that remains intriguing and a subject of debate about Richard III to this day. Thanks so much for reminding me of it. I must re-read it and all of Tey's books again soon.

On a completely different note, I've just finished the late Art Buchwald's last book, Too Soon to Say Goodbye, documenting his unlikely final victory lap when he entered a hospice, expecting to die as his doctor had predicted, within a few weeks. Trouble was, Buchwald lasted over another year, and had a fine time, being visited and feted by his friends, the famous and his family. Contrary to what one might expect, the book is anything but a downer, but at parts is very touching and laugh-out-loud funny, as Buchwald presents his own puzzlement over his survival and the pressure that he "endured" being made a man-of-the-year by everyone from the Hospice Association to the National Frozen Shoulder Foundation.

It's a quick, diverting read, and will lift your heart, especially if you have seen loved ones or found yourself faced with serious health issues.
pktrekgirl
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Post by pktrekgirl »

I am a total spaz, when it comes to reading.

I usually have about 6 books sitting on my bedside table...and with the exception of the mysteries (I'm a Sue Grafton and Jonathan Kellerman fan), I never read a book straight through - I skip around, reading whatever I feel like in the moment.

The vast majority of what I read is non-fiction, so it doesn't really matter - most of my reading these days outside of mysteries relates to either travel, classic film or to another one of my favorite reading topics - mountaineering...particularly on Everest. So skipping around is usually not a problem.

Right now I have on my nightstand 1 Sue Grafton novel, The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation, the two recently released biographies of Kay Francis, The Films of Ronald Colman, The Films of Gary Cooper, and Dark Lover, a biography of Valentino that I've read about a half dozen times, if you put all of my skipping around and re-reading together.

And on the floor next to the bed I have Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin and Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton.

No matter what I'm in the mood for, there is something sitting within easy reach.
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sandykaypax
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Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:15 pm
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Post by sandykaypax »

Ah! Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey!!! I've never known anyone else that's read it but me! Most interesting book. I've also read Brat Farrar, which always seemed to me to be a perfect book to have been turned into a classic film. I wonder why it wasn't? Or was it?

I like to read both fiction and non-fiction. I can read anything except horror and grisly true-crime. I'm not a fan of sci-fi, either, but just because it bores me. Sorry, sci-fi fans!

I just finished a fun book that Lynn recommended, Diary of a Mad Playwright by Kirkwood. It's about the author's trials and tribulations getting his play, Legends, starring Mary Martin and Carol Channing, off the ground.

Right now I'm reading Five for Hollywood by John Parker. It focuses on the careers of Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, and Natalie Wood.

Sandy K
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Shonna
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Joined: April 23rd, 2007, 11:50 am
Location: California

reading material

Post by Shonna »

I just checked out the following from the library:
"Crawford's Men" by Jane Wayne (I'm reading it first, it's good)
"Memo from David O. Selznick" by Rudy Behlmer
"Gentleman, The William Powell Story" by Charles Francisco
"Inside Warner Bros." by Rudy Behlmer
"People Will Talk" by John Kobal
"Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck" by Rudy Behlmer and
"Dangerous Men" by Mick LaSalle
feaito

Post by feaito »

"Being and Becoming" Myrna Loy's Autobiography. An excellent read BTW. Now I love Myrna even more!!
Mr. Arkadin
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Nice to see you Shonna. I thought you disappeared from the TCM boards for awhile there.
Last edited by Mr. Arkadin on April 24th, 2007, 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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