2015 Reading and FY 2016 Movie Challenges
As I mention below, in times of stress I retreat into books, especially books I've already read and can expect to enjoy. I broke my wrist on August 7th and dove into comfort reading. Consequently, you should not be surprised to discover than since the middle of July, I've read eleven books, mostly light weight romances, and only seen two movies. Better two than none, right? FanSee
2015 Reading Challnge
1. Rage Against the Darkness by Becky Masterman.
2. Fear the Darkness by Becky Masterman.
3. Silkworm by Robert Galbraith.
4. Thankless in Death by J. R. Robb.
5. Concealed in Death by J. R. Robb.
6. Broken Prey by John Sandford.
7. Invisible Prey by John Sandford.
8. Dead Wake by Erik Larson.
9. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.
10. The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey.
11. For Kicks by Dick Francis..
12. Racing Game by Dick Francis..
13. Night in Shanghai by Nicole Mones.
14. The Edge by Dick Francis.
15. Straight by Dick Francis.
16. Hot Money by Dick Francis.
17. Driving Force by Dick Francis.
18. Rules of Prey by John Sandford.
19. Decider by Dick Francis.
20. The Skelton Road by Val McDermid.
21. Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Charles M. Blow. I found this a difficult book to read, mainly because I had to keep reminding myself that the writer’s childhood was taking place in the 1970’s, in rural Louisiana, not in northwest Arkansas in the 1940’s. I lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from 1946 until 1951, and so many of the details of Charles M. Blow’s life were things I remembered from when I was eight or nine or ten: friends whose homes had no running water or electricity, blatant discrimination, segregated movie theaters.Shouldn’t things have changed in the years between 1948 and 1975? Apparently not. A well-written and powerful book, but not a cheery one.
22. The Gamble by Joan Wolf. For a radical change of pace, I next read The Gamble, one of Joan Wolf’s half dozen or so first person Regencies. For some reason, the romance genre discourages authors from writing in the first person, but for Joan Wolf, it resulted in some of the best of her works. In this one, a young woman discovers, after her father dies, that he had been supporting himself by blackmailing members of the aristocracy. With no means of support for herself and her sister, she decides to continue the practice. What could possibly go wrong?
23. Lord Richard’s Daughter by Joan Wolf. Told from a conventional third party point-of-view, this slender Regency romance still succeeds by turning some Regency clichés on their heads. A young, unmarried woman’s father is a missionary in Africa, and when he dies far from civilization, she returns home to her grandmother to have her London season. The situation is conventional but the budding naturalist of a heroine is not.
24. The Guardian by Joan Wolf is another of the first person point-of-view Regencies. In this case, the point-of-view does add strength to a somewhat rambling story that is lacking in strong characters. I read it, it passed the time pleasantly, but it never came together in the way Wolf’s best stories do. My verdict: mildly disappointing.
25. Forfeit by Dick Francis. One of the things I enjoy about Dick Francis’ early books are the romances of his heroes. (As Francis ages, this pretty much fades away.) In this case, the romance is particularly fraught since James Tyrone is very much married to a difficult wife. On top of this, a sports reporter for another paper commits suicide after warning James not to get caught in the trap he’s in. The result is a story nicely balanced between romance and suspense.
26. The Pretenders by Joan Wolf is another of her first person p-o-v works and one of her best overall. The pretenders in question are the Earl of Cambridge, age 24, and Deborah Woodly, age 21, a poor relation who lives with her mother in a cottage on the estate. Reeve, as the Earl is known to his friends, and Deborah have grown up together, but now Reeve persuades her to pretend to be engaged to him so that his guardian will give him complete control of his inheritance. Putting this scheme into action turns out to be more complicated than the pair had expected.
27. Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruisie is another reread. I had a stressful August and September, so I applied my usual remedy: rereading known favorites like “Charlie.” Allie McGuffey has made Mark King into The Star of the local, small town radio station, and he’s just dumped her because of insufficient chic-ness. Since they’d been sleeping together too, her life is pretty much in the toilet. She needs a drink, fast, and to show Mark she is attractive to guys. In the bar across from the radio station, she picks up Charlie Tenniel, unaware that Charlie has just been hired by her radio station. And we’re off to the races!
28. His Lordship’s Desire by Joan Wolf is another one of her romances that just never seems to come together. Alexander Devize, newly the Earl of Cambridge, has returned home to England after serving with the Army in the Peninsula. He expects to marry the woman he loves, Diana Sherwood, despite the fact that she never wrote him in the three years he was away. In fact, these two have a lot of issues they need to discuss over the next 375 pages. When they don’t, other stuff happens. Everything ends well, of course, but it could have ended more satisfactorily in 100 fewer pages.
29. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. Years ago, I read a long, difficult book about the Wright Brothers. The author went into detail about ‘lift,’ ‘pitch,’ and ‘yaw.’ On page 37 of McCullough’s book, he disposes of all three attributes of flight in less than half a page but I’m much more apt to remember them now. I am certain, too, that I will remember much more about Wilbur and Orville’s individual personalities and about their very human sister, Kathryn. The Wrights were truly an extraordinary family.
30. Golden Girl by Joan Wolf. Sarah Patterson is the golden girl, the daughter of a louche nouveau riche manufacturer who arranges her marriage to the Duke of Cheviot, an aristocrat who has inherited nothing but enormous debts. Sarah adamantly opposes the match until the Duke bribes her by recognizing that her art is more than just a ladylike skill. The book is bulked up by the mystery of who is trying to make the marriage fail, but the heart of the book is the charming story of the relationship between Sarah and her Duke.
31. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst. It is always 1938 in Furst’s books and it is always Paris, but beyond those givens, the stories he tells are quite different. In this case, the hero is a banker in an American bank’s Paris branch and a Spanish refugee. As a Spaniard, Cristian Ferrar gets drawn into procuring arms for the Spanish Republic to use against fascist forces in Spain, a conflict I knew nothing about. In fact, I learned just about everything I now know about the war by looking closely at the map of Spain in the beginning of “Midnight.” Such a well-told story and, like Dunnett, one where the small details may be fictional, but the big picture is dependably accurate.
32. Fool’s Masquerade by Joan Wolf has long been one of my very favorites. In "Masquerade," she tackles the romance cliche, Can an 18-year-old woman dress as a man and carry off the disguise successfully for more than a short time? Well, sort of, but it’s going to be difficult. This was published as a Signet Regency Romance, so it’s a short book - I read it between dinner and bedtime yesterday - so there was no need for Wolf to introduce a villain or a mystery. No, it’s a straight up romance and a charming one.
FY2015 Movie Challenge
1. Life Itself directed by Steve James.
2. The Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren, Om Puri, and Manish Dayal.
3. Boyhood with Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.
4. The November Man with Pierce Brosnan and Luke Bracey.
5. What If with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan.
6. Love Is Strange with Albert Molina and John Lithgow.
7. Fury with Brad Pitt
8. Pride with Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton.
9. Antarctica: A Year on Ice directed by Anthony Powell.
10. St. Vincent starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy.
11. Whiplash with J.K. Simmons and Miles Tellhaer.
12. The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch.
13. Limitless with Bradley Cooper.
14. The Duke of Burgundy with Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D'Anna
15. Oscar Nominated Animated Short Subjects.
16. Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Subjects.
18. Searching for Sugarman directed by Malik Bendjelloul.
19. The Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren, Om Puri, and Manish Dayal.
20 . Mockingjay, Part 1 with Jennifer Lawrence.
21. L.A. Story with Steve Martin and Victoria Tennant.
22. The Normal Heart with Mark Ruffalo and Julia Roberts.
23. Deli Man directed by Erik Anjou.
24. Black and White with Ben Stiller and Jared Leto.
25. Paddington with Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins.
1. Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation with Tom Cruise. Honestly, I should never go to a 7:00 p.m. movie on a day when I’ve gotten up early and not taken a nap. I may have missed key points early on. While I did enjoy the action in the second half and the some funny bits, I think this is a movie I’ll be watching again in my living room.
2. Non-Stop with Liam Neeson and Michele Dockery. I watched this in Karen and Bruce’s living room where my first thought was, “Wow, this is the second movie I’ve seen recently with Michele Dockery (Mary from Downton Abbey) in it. A few more minutes of watching and I realized, “Wow, this is the second time I’m watching “Non-Stop.” Yep, this is the one where Liam Neeson is an air marshal suspected of going rogue when an airliner is attacked in several different ways. Karen and Bruce, who hadn’t seen it before, enjoyed it, but it wasn’t a movie I would have chosen to see twice.
2015 Reading Challnge
1. Rage Against the Darkness by Becky Masterman.
2. Fear the Darkness by Becky Masterman.
3. Silkworm by Robert Galbraith.
4. Thankless in Death by J. R. Robb.
5. Concealed in Death by J. R. Robb.
6. Broken Prey by John Sandford.
7. Invisible Prey by John Sandford.
8. Dead Wake by Erik Larson.
9. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey.
10. The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey.
11. For Kicks by Dick Francis..
12. Racing Game by Dick Francis..
13. Night in Shanghai by Nicole Mones.
14. The Edge by Dick Francis.
15. Straight by Dick Francis.
16. Hot Money by Dick Francis.
17. Driving Force by Dick Francis.
18. Rules of Prey by John Sandford.
19. Decider by Dick Francis.
20. The Skelton Road by Val McDermid.
21. Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Charles M. Blow. I found this a difficult book to read, mainly because I had to keep reminding myself that the writer’s childhood was taking place in the 1970’s, in rural Louisiana, not in northwest Arkansas in the 1940’s. I lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from 1946 until 1951, and so many of the details of Charles M. Blow’s life were things I remembered from when I was eight or nine or ten: friends whose homes had no running water or electricity, blatant discrimination, segregated movie theaters.Shouldn’t things have changed in the years between 1948 and 1975? Apparently not. A well-written and powerful book, but not a cheery one.
22. The Gamble by Joan Wolf. For a radical change of pace, I next read The Gamble, one of Joan Wolf’s half dozen or so first person Regencies. For some reason, the romance genre discourages authors from writing in the first person, but for Joan Wolf, it resulted in some of the best of her works. In this one, a young woman discovers, after her father dies, that he had been supporting himself by blackmailing members of the aristocracy. With no means of support for herself and her sister, she decides to continue the practice. What could possibly go wrong?
23. Lord Richard’s Daughter by Joan Wolf. Told from a conventional third party point-of-view, this slender Regency romance still succeeds by turning some Regency clichés on their heads. A young, unmarried woman’s father is a missionary in Africa, and when he dies far from civilization, she returns home to her grandmother to have her London season. The situation is conventional but the budding naturalist of a heroine is not.
24. The Guardian by Joan Wolf is another of the first person point-of-view Regencies. In this case, the point-of-view does add strength to a somewhat rambling story that is lacking in strong characters. I read it, it passed the time pleasantly, but it never came together in the way Wolf’s best stories do. My verdict: mildly disappointing.
25. Forfeit by Dick Francis. One of the things I enjoy about Dick Francis’ early books are the romances of his heroes. (As Francis ages, this pretty much fades away.) In this case, the romance is particularly fraught since James Tyrone is very much married to a difficult wife. On top of this, a sports reporter for another paper commits suicide after warning James not to get caught in the trap he’s in. The result is a story nicely balanced between romance and suspense.
26. The Pretenders by Joan Wolf is another of her first person p-o-v works and one of her best overall. The pretenders in question are the Earl of Cambridge, age 24, and Deborah Woodly, age 21, a poor relation who lives with her mother in a cottage on the estate. Reeve, as the Earl is known to his friends, and Deborah have grown up together, but now Reeve persuades her to pretend to be engaged to him so that his guardian will give him complete control of his inheritance. Putting this scheme into action turns out to be more complicated than the pair had expected.
27. Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruisie is another reread. I had a stressful August and September, so I applied my usual remedy: rereading known favorites like “Charlie.” Allie McGuffey has made Mark King into The Star of the local, small town radio station, and he’s just dumped her because of insufficient chic-ness. Since they’d been sleeping together too, her life is pretty much in the toilet. She needs a drink, fast, and to show Mark she is attractive to guys. In the bar across from the radio station, she picks up Charlie Tenniel, unaware that Charlie has just been hired by her radio station. And we’re off to the races!
28. His Lordship’s Desire by Joan Wolf is another one of her romances that just never seems to come together. Alexander Devize, newly the Earl of Cambridge, has returned home to England after serving with the Army in the Peninsula. He expects to marry the woman he loves, Diana Sherwood, despite the fact that she never wrote him in the three years he was away. In fact, these two have a lot of issues they need to discuss over the next 375 pages. When they don’t, other stuff happens. Everything ends well, of course, but it could have ended more satisfactorily in 100 fewer pages.
29. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. Years ago, I read a long, difficult book about the Wright Brothers. The author went into detail about ‘lift,’ ‘pitch,’ and ‘yaw.’ On page 37 of McCullough’s book, he disposes of all three attributes of flight in less than half a page but I’m much more apt to remember them now. I am certain, too, that I will remember much more about Wilbur and Orville’s individual personalities and about their very human sister, Kathryn. The Wrights were truly an extraordinary family.
30. Golden Girl by Joan Wolf. Sarah Patterson is the golden girl, the daughter of a louche nouveau riche manufacturer who arranges her marriage to the Duke of Cheviot, an aristocrat who has inherited nothing but enormous debts. Sarah adamantly opposes the match until the Duke bribes her by recognizing that her art is more than just a ladylike skill. The book is bulked up by the mystery of who is trying to make the marriage fail, but the heart of the book is the charming story of the relationship between Sarah and her Duke.
31. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst. It is always 1938 in Furst’s books and it is always Paris, but beyond those givens, the stories he tells are quite different. In this case, the hero is a banker in an American bank’s Paris branch and a Spanish refugee. As a Spaniard, Cristian Ferrar gets drawn into procuring arms for the Spanish Republic to use against fascist forces in Spain, a conflict I knew nothing about. In fact, I learned just about everything I now know about the war by looking closely at the map of Spain in the beginning of “Midnight.” Such a well-told story and, like Dunnett, one where the small details may be fictional, but the big picture is dependably accurate.
32. Fool’s Masquerade by Joan Wolf has long been one of my very favorites. In "Masquerade," she tackles the romance cliche, Can an 18-year-old woman dress as a man and carry off the disguise successfully for more than a short time? Well, sort of, but it’s going to be difficult. This was published as a Signet Regency Romance, so it’s a short book - I read it between dinner and bedtime yesterday - so there was no need for Wolf to introduce a villain or a mystery. No, it’s a straight up romance and a charming one.
FY2015 Movie Challenge
1. Life Itself directed by Steve James.
2. The Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren, Om Puri, and Manish Dayal.
3. Boyhood with Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.
4. The November Man with Pierce Brosnan and Luke Bracey.
5. What If with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan.
6. Love Is Strange with Albert Molina and John Lithgow.
7. Fury with Brad Pitt
8. Pride with Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton.
9. Antarctica: A Year on Ice directed by Anthony Powell.
10. St. Vincent starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy.
11. Whiplash with J.K. Simmons and Miles Tellhaer.
12. The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch.
13. Limitless with Bradley Cooper.
14. The Duke of Burgundy with Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D'Anna
15. Oscar Nominated Animated Short Subjects.
16. Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Subjects.
18. Searching for Sugarman directed by Malik Bendjelloul.
19. The Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren, Om Puri, and Manish Dayal.
20 . Mockingjay, Part 1 with Jennifer Lawrence.
21. L.A. Story with Steve Martin and Victoria Tennant.
22. The Normal Heart with Mark Ruffalo and Julia Roberts.
23. Deli Man directed by Erik Anjou.
24. Black and White with Ben Stiller and Jared Leto.
25. Paddington with Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins.
1. Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation with Tom Cruise. Honestly, I should never go to a 7:00 p.m. movie on a day when I’ve gotten up early and not taken a nap. I may have missed key points early on. While I did enjoy the action in the second half and the some funny bits, I think this is a movie I’ll be watching again in my living room.
2. Non-Stop with Liam Neeson and Michele Dockery. I watched this in Karen and Bruce’s living room where my first thought was, “Wow, this is the second movie I’ve seen recently with Michele Dockery (Mary from Downton Abbey) in it. A few more minutes of watching and I realized, “Wow, this is the second time I’m watching “Non-Stop.” Yep, this is the one where Liam Neeson is an air marshal suspected of going rogue when an airliner is attacked in several different ways. Karen and Bruce, who hadn’t seen it before, enjoyed it, but it wasn’t a movie I would have chosen to see twice.