Saturday, August 19, 2017

Lovely Books and Things - 8.19.17

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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Slow reading week. Instead, have been going the audio route with a couple starts and stops before finding a couple stories that grabbed me.

Still working on culling the bookshelves and creating donation and to-sell piles. I want to get to the point where there isn't an overflow from my shelves. It takes a good chunk of time so I have just been doing a little here and there and patting myself on the back when I manage to fill a bag ;-)

I am training myself to be more mindful and picky of book acquisitions.

Things to consider...

- Is it just cover love?
- Is it the hype surrounding it that appeals?
- Can I pass this on to share with another person, so that the book gets at least two readings?

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Bought:


Book Passage at the Ferry Building hosted an author event with Tom Perrotta to celebrate the release of his latest, Mrs. Fletcher. Part of the inspiration for the novel was to explore the empty nest syndrome parents experience while their kids are experiencing the college world.

Mrs. Fletcher
by Tom Perrotta
-Contemporary Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads

THE exploratory vibe of this book catches my attention.


For Review:

Good Boy
(WAGs #1)
by Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy
-New Adult, Romance, Sports
courtesy of Romance Read-of-the-Month Club -Thanks!
BarnesNoble | Amazon | Goodreads

FOR the romance pile.


OTHER things (kinda book-related):

Jane Austen in August
hosted by Faith Hope & Cherrytea
instagram: #austeninaugustrbr #jausteninaugust

ENJOYING Jane Austen related posts on instagram.


AND watched: in theatre (live)

Chicago
Gloriana Musical Theatre

GOOD fun with snappy tunes.


AND watched: in theatre

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)
Director: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
Starring: Al Gore
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 4

A decade after An Inconvenient Truth (2006) brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution.

THE current status of climate change with the political aspects. Although some measures have been taken to address climate change, we need to continue.

The Battleship Island (2017)
aka Goonhamdo
Director: Seung-wan Ryoo
Starring: Jung-min Hwang, Su-an Kim, Joong-ki Song
-Action, Drama, Fantasy, History, South Korea | imdb | my rating: 4

During the Japanese colonial era, roughly 400 Korean people, who were forced onto Battleship Island ("Hashima Island") to mine for coal, attempt to escape.

SOME Korean history with action scenes. I do not know much about Asian history, so this was interesting to learn.

Wind River (2017)
Director/Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Kelsey Asbille, Jeremy Renner
-Action, Crime, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 5

An FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation.

SET in snow, this mystery captures a bleak world. Some scenes included a droll sense of humor that manages to create some light moments in this sad tale.

AND watched: in theatre - part of the YBCA New Filipino Cinema 2017 festival (details).

Sunday Beauty Queen (2016)
Director: Baby Ruth Villarama
Starring: Rudelie Acosta, Cherrie Bretana
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5

Sunday Beauty Queen is a real-life Cinderella tale of a Filipina house helper who dreams to be a Beauty Queen in Hong Kong.

WE were treated to guest appearances from the director and producer for Q&A. While in Hong Kong in 2011, they happened upon pageant festivities on Chater Road which is what inspired the film.

THE plight of overseas domestic workers is touched upon in this tale. But a bit of escapism in the pageantry world provides some entertainment in a dreary life away from home.

Inside The War On Drugs With Photojournalist Raffy Lerma (2016)
slideshow presentation by Raffy Lerma
-Documentary | details | my rating: 5

For twelve years he worked as a staff photographer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, covering the daily news beat in metro Manila. He recently shifted into working independently to focus on documenting the government’s “war on drugs,” which he has covered since the beginning of the Duterte presidency. Lerma shot the photo that went viral and came to be known as “The Pieta,” and he was featured in the 2017 New York Times documentary When a President Says, “I’ll Kill You.”

THE killing continues with reported numbers of deaths over 8,000 since last year.


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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

:-)
 
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