What are you reading?

[charliechaplinfan]

I love the Doug Fairbanks book, it's very well written, I enjoyed it very much. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[MichiganJ]

I enjoyed the Fairbanks book quite a lot, too. I prefer books that concentrate more on the films rather than the biography and I think Vance gets a pretty good balance.

[charliechaplinfan]

When reading a biography it really annoys me if the films are given scant attention. After reading the Vance book I wanted to see everything Fairbanks ever did, the description of the films were so good. I have watched almost everything Fairbanks has done and Vance wasn't lying.

[Birdy]

Plum fans: Sherri Shepherd (The View) is cast as Lola! Perfect! Now, who for Grandma Mazur.
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[jdb1]

Plum fans: Sherri Shepherd (The View) is cast as Lola! Perfect! Now, who for Grandma Mazur.
B

I don't know who that is -- I don't watch The View. Is she an actress? Is she appropriate?

Now, for Grandma, how about: Cloris Leachman, Betty White, Lily Tomlin, Marian Seldes or Frances Sternhagen?

[mrsl]

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Judith:

What are you talking about? What are 'Plum' fans, is that an author's name, or a character, etc?
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[jdb1]

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Judith:

What are you talking about? What are 'Plum' fans, is that an author's name, or a character, etc?
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We are discussing a very funny book series by Janet Evanovich about a bail bondsperson in Trenton, New Jeresey called Stephanie Plum. A movie is being made of one of the books, and speculations about casting are irresistible. The books are full of colorful and outrageous characters. They will make great comedies if the producers don't try to change too much; they don't really need any improving upon.

I recommend reading any one of the series -- they all have numbers in the title (i.e. "One for the Money). The latest one is "Sizzling Sixteen."

I lent "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" and "Plum Spooky" to one of my co-workers, and we have another convert.

[Birdy]

Sherri Shepherd is totally appropriate. She looks the part and can totally do physical comedy and has a really big mouth. She said she didn't know filming would be on an actual street and was a little embarrassed about the size of the spandex outfit!

[mrsl]

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Sometimes I repeat and don't mean to, so if I did this somewhere else, I'm sorry. I heard on TV, but not sure where I heard it, that books are quickly becoming extinct because of the internet. MY question is, wouldn't you rather sit comfortably in a big easy chair to read than upright at your computer? Also, one of my favorite reading times is when I'm not feeling well and I make myself a big cup of tea, prop up in bed with pillows all around, and cocoon myself with a book I know I'll enjoy. Today's kids will never know that unless someone shows them. Thank goodness my Angel had her tonsils out Friday, and instead of tea, she has cups of frozen yogurt, but she's still cocooned in pillows while reading about Anne of Green Gables.
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[feaito]

I read "The Book with No Name" which has no credited author, a gimmick of a novel, which bored me when I began reading it, but halfway it got better and I can say all in all it's OK, but nothing special. Not what I expected with its ad campaign.

I'm still reading Vieira's "Garbo- A Cinematic Legacy" and I'm marveled with the amount of information analyzed in depth and well researched, the quality of the book, the wonderful & rare pics, the very interesting points of view of the author, a true gem.

I began reading Vieira's Bio on "Thalberg" and it's superb -so far-, very well written and entertaining. Vieira has become easily one of my favorite authors.

[charliechaplinfan]

Mine too, his books are excellent, let's hope he has another project lined up.

I finshed Barry Paris's book on Garbo which fills in the blanks that Vieira's book doesn't cover ie her childhood and retirement. They are ideal companion books, I picked the Paris book up for next to nothing.

[Lzcutter]

I've almost finished the book on "Doug" and best news of all, my books arrive on Monday so I have will plenty of reading material in the months ahead.

As far as books vs Kindles and other readers, I prefer books. But I do have to say that the Kindle looks much easier to tote around an airport and take on a plane.

And I do like the Kindle Amazon commercials with Annie Little.

[charliechaplinfan]

I love books yet can see the advantage to a Kindle if you travel a great deal, less baggage. Whenever I travel I always pack more books than I should.

[feaito]

I would never change a book for a kindle device and I'm not interested in them. In my country Kindles and IPads are known but they are not as widely available as in the USA; I think there aren't yet many books in Spanish which can be read on these devices, not sure.

A couple of weeks ago I read about a study which compared reading documents on your computer screen or a kindle/Ipad device, versus reading on printed pages and the difference in terms of comprehension, retaining facts (when you study something) and concentration where awesome. The journalist stated that this new generation's knowledge of things due to this -as they tend to read and study using computer screens or these devices instead of books- would be much more superficial than that of older generations.

[mrsl]

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As usual, I'm not sure what a kindle is, but I assume it's a gadget that has books on line to read in some way. Not important to me as I love books, and hate to give them away. I have them stacked all over (but carefully!)because, some day I will gather them all together and take them to the local Salvation Army store.

I'm officially off of biographies. I like to know who was married to whom, and how long, and how many kids they had, and if their kids are following in their parents footsteps, but I do not care how actors acted when they were drunk, or who beat whom, or who cheated on whom, etc. My favorite bio was of Bette Davis where most of the book concerned events that happened during the filming of each of her movies, e.g. who she married, who she dated, etc. As much as I adore Robert Mitchum, some of the stunts he performed when he was drunk or mad at someone were pretty nasty and I could easily have lived without knowing about them, but on the other hand, as nosy as I am, I would have liked to read more about him and Shirley MacLaine.

So, I've gone back to my fictitional mysteries and favorite authors' Irish stories, which read much more quickly for me. What amazes me is that even during my most vigorous years of wanting to be more educated on certain things, did I ever consider going to some of the books you people read around here. That is not a slight in any way at all. It's a huge 'atta boy if anything, and I only wish I had had the fortitude some of you have.
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