Thursday, April 30, 2020

The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan

The Sweeney Sisters
by Lian Dolan

Just released: April 28, 2020
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Women's Fiction
Hardback: 304
Rating: 3
Goodreads
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First sentence(s):
"Does this come in teal?"

Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother’s death from cancer fifteen years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor universally adored by critics, publishers, and book lovers. When Bill dies unexpectedly one cool June night, his shell-shocked daughters return to their childhood home. They aren’t quite sure what the future holds without their larger-than-life father, but they do know how to throw an Irish wake to honor a man of his stature.

But as guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger, emboldened by whiskey, has crashed the party. It turns out that she too is a Sweeney sister.

When Washington, DC based journalist Serena Tucker had her DNA tested on a whim a few weeks earlier, she learned she had a 50% genetic match with a childhood neighbor—Maggie Sweeney of Southport, Connecticut. It seems Serena’s chilly WASP mother, Birdie, had a history with Bill Sweeney—one that has remained totally secret until now.

Once the shock wears off, questions abound. What does this mean for William’s literary legacy? Where is the unfinished memoir he’s stashed away, and what will it reveal? And how will a fourth Sweeney sister—a blond among redheads—fit into their story?


My two-bits:

The premise of the story and mystery of the father were draws for me. But it took me awhile to get into. Mostly because I did not connect with any of the characters - kinda unlikable for various reasons.

The story picks up towards the last third of the book when all is revealed. And, the characters start to change their dispositions and relations towards each other.

~*~

* review copy courtesy of publisher

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

My French Film Festival 2020

My French Film Festival
stay-at-home version (here)
available free through April 27
NOW extended to May 25!

Good news, the STAY HOME edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival is extended until May 25, 2020! We are delighted to announce that a selection of 20 feature-length films from the past 10 editions of the festival will be added to this special edition. We hope that these films provide solace, distraction, and entertainment during this period and in the weeks to come.

I binged as many as I could last weekend and now am pleasantly surprised the viewing date has extended. Yay!

Below are the ones I watched so far. Plan on adding more throughout May.


FEATURE FILMS:

Crash Test Aglaé (2017)
Director/Screenwriter: Éric Gravel
Starring: India Hair, Julie Depardieu, Yolande Moreau Frédérique Bel
My rating: 5
Aglaé, a young factory worker, has only one reference point in her life: her job at a car crash test site. When she learns that the factory is going to be relocated abroad, she surprises everyone by accepting to go to India in order to hold on to her job. Accompanied by two colleagues, she sets out on a perilous journey by car to the other side of the world.

Fool Circle (2014)
Tristesse Club
Director/Screenwriter: Vincent Mariette
Screenwriter: Vincent Poymiro
Starring: Ludivine Sagnier, Laurent Lafitte, Vincent Macaigne, Noémie Lvovsky
My rating: 5
If you like treasure hunts, old Porsches, sisters who aren't sister, fathers who aren't really dead, lakes and their secrets: welcome to the circle.

Heatwave (2015)
Coup de chaud
Director/Screenwriter: Raphaël Jacoulot
Screenwriter: Lise Macheboeuf
Starring: Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Grégory Gadebois, Karim Leklou, Carole Franck
My rating: 5
At the height of a summer heatwave, in a small, apparently peaceful village, the inhabitants' daily lives are disturbed by Josef Bousou. The son of scrap merchants and a troublemaker, the villagers decide he is the main reason for all their woes, until the day that he's found dead in the courtyard of his family's home.

Of Women and Horses (2011)
Sport de filles
Director: Patricia Mazuy
Screenwriter: Simon Reggiani
Starring: Marina Hands, Bruno Ganz, Josiane Balasko, Amanda Harlech
My rating: 4
Enraged by the sale of the vaulting horse that she'd been promised as hers to ride, Gracieuse, a talented rider, dumps her job at a stable.

She starts again from zero by accepting work as a groom at a dressage stud farm adjacent to her father's property. The owner, Joséphine de Silène, exploits with an iron fist the international renown of a German trainer, Franz Mann. This former champion, now cynical and worn out, is sought out by female riders the world over, who fight each other for his knowledge - and for his attention.

This microcosm of power and money has no time for Gracieuse, whose only assets are her talent, her fiercely stubborn character, and, most particularly, her determination to succeed. A high tension wire who's ready to stand up to Franz Mann and to face any obstacle, even if it means stepping outside the law, she pursues her sole obsession: to have horse to call her own that she will take to the top.



SHORT ANIMATION FILMS:

A Tiger With No Stripes (2018)
Le Tigre sans rayures
Director/Screenwriter: Raùl Robin Morales Reyes
My rating: 4
A little tiger decides to take a long journey in search of his stripes.

Kiki of Montparnasse (2012)
Mademoiselle Kiki et les Montparnos
Director: Amélie Harrault
My rating: 5
Kiki de Montparnasse was a model for major avant-garde painters of the early 20th century who went on to become a painter, a press cartoonist, a writer and a cabaret singer.

M Seeking W (2015)
H recherche F
Director: Marina Moshkova
My rating: 5
The love story in the world of revived paintings. The artist is suffering from a creative crisis and the absence of the muse. The main reason is that he is lonely and wants to find his other half. He sees an advert in a newspaper about a Dating Service and he decides that it is his last chance to find love.


SHORT FILMS:

A Day Out in Paris (2013)
La Virée à Paname
Directors: Carine May, Hakim Zouhani
Screenwriter: Carine May
Starring: Vessale Lezouache, Smaïl Chaalane, Hamid Berkouz, Elvis Galé
My rating: 5
Mourad, twenty, gets along between drama classes, and going out with his buddies and girlfriend. Today, he decides to leave his district to go to a writing workshop in Paris. But the initiative will turn out to be more complicated than planned.

Chasse Royale (2016)
Directors/Screenwriters: Romane Gueret, Lise Akoka
Starring: Angélique Gernez, Eddhy Dupont, Éléonore Gurrey
My rating: 5
Angélique, 13, is the eldest child of a large family living in the suburbs of Valenciennes. One day at school, she is asked to audition for a film.

Delectable You (2017)
Belle à croquer
Director/Screenwriter: Axel Courtière
Screenwriter: Magali Pouzol
Starring: Sylvain Dieuaide, Lou de Laâge, Ophélia Kolb, Catherine Deneuve
My rating: 5
Oscar Mongoût, a gourmet cannibal, burns with love for a neighbor in his building, the very vegetal Miss Carrot. But this passion seems destined to fail: she is vegetarian, while he has a severe case of vegetable phobia. Things take a drastic turn the evening she invites him to dinner.

Fille du calvaire (2012)
Director: Stéphane Demoustier
Starring: Denis Eyriey, Antoine Mathieu
My rating: 4
Jérôme fell in love with a young woman whom he tries to seduce. Day after day, he tells the evolution of the operations to his friend Patrick who gives his advice and lives by proxy the adventures of his younger friend.

It's Not a Cowboy Movie (2012)
Ce n'est pas un film de cow-boys
Director: Benjamin Parent
Screenwriter: Benjamin Parent, Joris Morio
Starring: Finnegan Oldfield, Malivaï Yakou, Leïla Choukri, Garance Marillier
My rating: 5
Brokeback Mountain was aired on TV last night. Vincent watched it and has been completely shattered. He takes advantage of the recess to describe the film in a touching and naïve way to his classmate, Moussa. In the girls bathroom, Jessica also deeply moved by the film, bombards her best friend Nadia with awkward questions about her gay father.

Judith Hotel (2018)
Judith Hôtel
Director/Screenwriter: Charlotte Le Bon
Screenwriter: Timothée Hochet
Starring: Sarah Calcine, Guillaume Kerbusch, Suzanne Rault-Balet, Jean-Baptiste Sagory
My rating: 5
To sleep forever is what Rémi dreams of. An insomniac for the past eight years, his life has become an unbearable nightmare. By booking a room in the highly sought-after Judith Hotel, he's offering himself the chance to start anew.

The Lizards (2012)
Les Lézards
Director: Vincent Mariette
Starring: Vincent Macaigne, Benoît Forgeard, Ginger Roman, Estéban
My rating: 5
Accompanied by his buddy Bruno, Leon waits in this hammam where he made an appointment with a girl met on Internet. From strange meetings to vaporous revelations, our two heroes wait restlessly for the hypothetical coming of the mysterious stranger.

No Drowning (2016)
Noyade interdite
Director: Mélanie Laleu
Starring: Diana Fontannaz, Estéban, Chloé Guillossou, Zakaria Benyahya
My rating: 5
Humanity follows the Voice's orders. Inserting coins into slots provides the beat. Solitude settles in for good and reigns over the world. But suddenly, two dreamers cross paths and the battle begins. When a striptease mermaid from a peep-show encounters a diver and wish thief, the world around them had better watch out.

The Stroke (2017)
La Caresse
Director/Screenwriter: Morgane Polanski
Screenwriter: Serena Jennings
Starring: Edvin Endre
My rating: 5
Cleanliness. Routine. Isolation. These are a few of our protagonist's favorite things. When an unwelcome furry visitor violates the rules of his ritualistic world, things take an unexpected turn...

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Happy Release: The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan

The Sweeney Sisters
by Lian Dolan
-Women's Fiction | Goodreads
Release date: April 28, 2020

Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother’s death from cancer fifteen years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor universally adored by critics, publishers, and book lovers. When Bill dies unexpectedly one cool June night, his shell-shocked daughters return to their childhood home. They aren’t quite sure what the future holds without their larger-than-life father, but they do know how to throw an Irish wake to honor a man of his stature.

But as guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger, emboldened by whiskey, has crashed the party. It turns out that she too is a Sweeney sister.

When Washington, DC based journalist Serena Tucker had her DNA tested on a whim a few weeks earlier, she learned she had a 50% genetic match with a childhood neighbor—Maggie Sweeney of Southport, Connecticut. It seems Serena’s chilly WASP mother, Birdie, had a history with Bill Sweeney—one that has remained totally secret until now.

Once the shock wears off, questions abound. What does this mean for William’s literary legacy? Where is the unfinished memoir he’s stashed away, and what will it reveal? And how will a fourth Sweeney sister—a blond among redheads—fit into their story?


About the author:
Lian Dolan is a writer and talker. She’s the author of two Los Angeles Times best-selling novels, Helen of Pasadena and Elizabeth the First Wife published by Prospect Park Books. She’s a regular humor columnist for Pasadena Magazine and has previously written monthly columns for O, The Oprah Magazine and Working Mother Magazine. She’s also written for TV, radio and websites.

Lian is the producer and host of Satellite Sisters, the award-winning talk show she created with her four real sisters. On Satellite Sisters, she’s interviewed everyone from Nora Ephron to Madeleine Albright to Big Bird. Satellite Sisters began life as a syndicated radio show and is now a top-rated podcast for women. The recent book by the Satellite Sisters, You’re the Best: A Celebration of Friendship, is popular with book clubs.

A popular speaker who combines humor and heart, Lian has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Sunday Morning and The Today Show and many local TV stations. She’s been a featured speaker at the LA Times Festival of Books, the Santa Barbara Celebrity Authors Lunch, the Literary Guild of Orange County Festival of Women Authors and dozens of other events at libraries, book stores, schools and women’s organizations across the country. In 2020, she’ll be on the faculty of the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop.

Excerpt:

“Does this come in teal?”

Liza looked up from her computer and tried not to make any noise that would indicate her disdain. In the decade since she’d opened the Sweeney Jones Gallery, she’d heard them all before—Does this come in teal? Do you have this one in a larger size? Can you find me something that goes with chocolate brown?—questions that indicated the customer had a limited knowledge of art, but quite possibly an unlimited budget for it. These two, staring at the front of the gallery, must be empty nesters with time, money, and a few blank walls, Liza guessed. She didn’t want to embarrass the tan woman in the bright yellow sundress. Or her companion, the man in the golf shirt embroidered with the company logo of a local hedge fund (Olympus? Pegasus? Icarus? They were all the same). But Liza didn’t have to indulge them, either; she wasn’t concerned about her Yelp rating for customer service.

As the owner of the gallery, Liza had an obligation to her artists and to her own reputation. Was Liza going to discover this generation’s Basquiat painting sailboats and golden labs somewhere in coastal Connecticut? Of course not. But she wasn’t managing a Pier One, either.

“I can’t say that we have that exact oil in teal,” Liza said, rising from behind her desk and making her way over to the couple near the entrance of the gallery. “The artist is Anna Oakland. She lives in the area and much of her work involves the natural world, capturing Long Island Sound, the marshes, the wetlands, our flora and fauna. But her gift is truly abstracting the traditional landscape or still life. This piece is a study of the dogwood trees that bloom here in May, hence the pinkness of the piece. So, no, the piece doesn’t come in blue because dogwoods don’t come in blue. But we have more of her work in the gallery, including several paintings of Southport Harbor. They’re... teal-ish. You might find what you’re looking for upstairs. Let me show you.”

“Oh, thank you. We’re visiting from Jacksonville. I mean, my husband’s here for work and meetings and such...”

“Honey, she doesn’t need our whole life story,” the husband said, cutting off his wife as Liza imagined he’d done a thousand times.

“I want her to know that we’re visiting but adore her little town. It’s like a postcard, but better. I thought a sweet little painting in our guest bathroom would be a lovely souvenir.”

Southport was a postcard to the untrained eye: two-and three-hundred-year-old historic homes, most in pristine condition with expensive paint jobs; glorious landscaping and water views; built around a charming harbor, once of importance during the time of the Revolution. Its antiques shops, art galleries, a gourmet food market, a classic pharmacy, and beloved restaurants and bars had remained impervious to chain stores and financial ups and downs. Even the fire hydrants, painted like Colonial sailors in blue jackets and tricorn hats, were Insta-perfect. From the outside, the town hadn’t changed since the 1700s. Inside the pre-Revolutionary saltboxes, the Greek Revivals and the Victorians, though, it was a different story altogether.

“What a lovely idea,” Liza responded, as if Lady Jacksonville had single-handedly cracked the Code of Decorative Arts. In truth, about 20 percent of Liza’s business was exactly this: aspirational purchases by visitors from all over the country who found themselves smitten by what this Connecticut town promised—tradition and propriety—fiercely protected and quietly preserved. “Where New York meets New England,” as the town’s website declared. It was exactly why she represented artists like Anna Oakland who could take the familiar (New England) and push it slightly forward toward the edge (New York). And a thousand-dollar sale is a thousand-dollar sale, Liza thought, moving confidently toward the staircase. Not bad for a Wednesday morning.

Liza was, as a lifelong resident of Southport who had taken several years of art history courses in college (okay, the University of Vermont and she didn’t technically graduate, but still), an expert with ten years of experience curating a collection of tasteful contemporary oils, watercolors, lithographs, and the occasional mixed media piece that hit the sweet spot where abstract art meets interior design. She had a good eye, a deep respect for her artists, and the cultured veneer her clientele trusted. Liza understood the importance of this combination of assets.

She had been raised well and married better, at least in terms of financial stability. Her business was a success and not the tax write-off her husband, Whit, expected when he gave her a lease and seed money as a Christmas gift, thanks to his particularly large bonus that year. As Whit handed her the keys to the front door, he said, “Here’s a little something to keep you busy.” Liza did get busy, creating a space for art that the townspeople could point to as a sign of their impeccable taste and which she could use to establish her own identity outside of her father’s well-known reputation or her husband’s centuries-old local heritage.

So, no, Liza didn’t have to indulge her visitors, but she also understood, after ten years in sales, that you never really knew who had money and who didn’t. She’d made that mistake early in her career, judging a client by his brand of shoes and letting him walk out the door, learning later that he was a newly minted billionaire. Never again would she let her unconscious bias against cheap footwear or loud clothing cloud her business practices. Just then, her cell phone rang. The screen flashed the name “Julia Ruiz,” her father’s housekeeper, a title that didn’t even come close to describing the services and the peace of mind she’d provided over the last two decades. Julia was more like an entire home-care agency in one: housekeeper; day nurse; cook; dog groomer; plant waterer; and life coach. She had come to work for the Sweeney family when Liza’s mother was sick and never left. After Maeve died, she cared for Liza’s younger sisters, Maggie and Tricia, and now, for her aging father.

Liza had been Julia’s point person since day one; the two of them kept the Sweeneys on track. It was unusual for Julia to call in the middle of the workday. She usually communicated via text or fridge Post-it note. “Excuse me, please,” Liza said to her new best friend, who was headed to the second floor. “I have to take this. Feel free to poke around on your own upstairs. I’ll meet you in a minute.”

What Liza would remember when she thought back on that phone call was the pleading in Julia’s voice, so unlike her usual softly accented pragmatism, as if rushing to the big house on Willow Lane could have made a difference. Liza would remember the whoosh of panic that swept through her, giving way to complete focus, allowing her somehow to explain to the Floridians that she had to close the gallery immediately due to a family emergency.

The man in the golf shirt looked concerned. “Is there anything I can do to be of service?”

Apologizing while ushering them out of the door of Sweeney Jones, Liza reassured them, “It’s nothing serious, only something that needs my attention. I understand you’re leaving Southport, but please, let me get your contact information. I’ll have my assistant send you photos this afternoon of some paintings that would be perfect for your guest bathroom. We’ll cover the shipping as a thank-you.”

While the husband handed Liza a card, the wife asked if she could let them know the paint color of the gallery door, as long as she was going to be emailing them. “This is the kind of blue I’m looking for.”

“It’s Benjamin Moore Kensington Blue,” Liza said so automatically she startled the wife.

“Well, thank you. Honey, can you put that in your phone?” She turned to Liza with her own surprise, a warm hug that Liza accepted.

“I hope everyone in your family is fine. God bless you.”

“God bless you” was something that Liza could never pull off saying in a million years, but coming from the petite blonde in the yellow sundress, Liza found the sentiment comforting. It allowed her to take a deep, deep breath to steady her hands so she could lock the door of the gallery. She didn’t even bother with the alarm. She’d call her assistant Emily or her Sunday saleswoman Jenny once she got to Willow Lane.

But first, Elizabeth Sweeney Jones had to call her sisters.

From THE SWEENEY SISTERS by Lian Dolan, published by William Morrow
Copyright © 2020 by Lian Dolan
Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Lovely Books and Things - 4.26.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~

HAPPY THINGS:

1. Sparkles - gold glitter nail polish

2. The Catch and Kill podcast hosted by Ronan Farrow (here) - great supplement to Ronan's book with interviews with people mentioned in the book and a post Weinstein trial episode

3. Eye candy - Balboa theatre getting creative and colorful with their boarded up front doors


~*~

Bought:

Long Bright River
by Liz Moore
-Mystery, Thriller | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books

How Much of These Hills Is Gold
by C Pam Zhang
-Historical, Literary, China | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by SF Public library

Bannerless
by Carrie Vaughn
-Speculative Fiction | Goodreads


AND watched: on Netflix

Tiger King (2020)
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (original title)
tv mini-series
Stars: Carole Baskin, Joe Exotic, Bhagavan Antle
-Documentary, Crime | imdb | my rating: 5

A rivalry between big cat eccentrics takes a dark turn when Joe Exotic, a controversial animal park boss, is caught in a murder-for-hire plot.

LIKE most, I got drawn into this. Left with mixed feelings.

Make your own Tiger King and Cub
by craftyiscoolcrochet (details)

Crip Camp (2020)
Directors: James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5

Down the road from Woodstock, a revolution blossomed at a ramshackle summer camp for teenagers with disabilities, transforming their lives and igniting a landmark movement.

CAPTIVATING bit of history.


AND watched: SFFILM screening (with Director Q&A) - some of these are not yet available to view, but be on the lookout for these goodies

Pangu (2020)
Director: Shaofu Zhang
-Animation, Short | my rating: 5

Based on the ancient Chinese creation myth, Pangu is a modern tale about parenthood and the differences between generations. Pangu creates a rigid world of angular shapes, but there’s just one problem: his son sees the world as curves.

Grab My Hand: (2020)
A Letter to My Dad
Director: Camrus Johnson
-Animation, Short | my rating: 5

Grab My Hand is a personal story of grief, those we look up to, and how the interactions we may deem insignificant may play a huge part in how we live our lives.This beautiful animated short, is director Camrus Johnson's gift to his grieving father and a message to all to cherish every second you have with loved ones while you still can.

Loch Ness Swim (2020)
Director: Sean Gillane
-Documentary, Short, Swim | my rating: 5

Ultramarathon swimmer Patti Baurnfeind has conquered the English Channel, Cook Strait, and Monterey Bay, finding inspiration for these physically demanding swims through various social causes. As she trains to cross Loch Ness in Scotland, her motivation takes a personal and transformative turn in this inspiring and intimate short documentary from Bay Area filmmaker Sean Gillane.

CHECK this out...

My French Film Festival
stay-at-home version
available free through April 27 (here)

~*~

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

*** THANKS to those on the front line during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Day 41, Week 7

Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Dewey's Readathon: April 2020

Dewey's 24 hour Readathon
April 25, 2020 (details & signup)

Stats:
April 2020 - 12 hours
October 2015 - 21 hours
October 2009 - 22 hours
April 2009 - 8 hours

Pre-Dewey post (here)

~*~

My reading list:

The Sweeney Sisters
by Lian Dolan
-Women's Fiction | Goodreads

The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
-Memoir, Travel | Goodreads

~*~

HOUR 1: 5am PDT (start time)
And so, it begins.

But my alarm did not go off, so I was still asleep.

HOUR 2: 6am
zzz

HOUR 3: 7am
The cat nudged me for usual breakfast reminder.

And so, it begins (for me).


HOUR 4: 8am
Opening Survey:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? ==> San Francisco, CA
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? ==> equally excited for both books listed above
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? ==> Korean Butter Honey Chips
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! ==> happy and sweet
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? ==> read more

HOUR 5: 9am
Mini-challenge: Favorite Memory

Dewey's 24 hour Readathon
October 17, 2015
HOUR 14: 6pm

Still at the cafe with my book. And the hour started with some live music. I have some gorgeous romantic piano playing in the background. It also looks like other musicians are assembling. Perhaps a jazz ensemble?

HOUR 15: 7pm
Sure enough, got some classic jazz tunes while reading at the cafe.

HOUR 6-13 (10am to 6pm):
Well, got distracted. Reading on hold.

Double-booked with another a-thon today. An art-a-thon.

HOUR 14: 6pm
Back to the book and reading.


HOUR 15: 7pm
Mid-Event Survey:
1. What are you reading right now? ==> The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan
2. How many books have you read so far? ==> 1, same one started with
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? ==> same book, would like to read at least midway through
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? ==> yes, went with them
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? ==> hard to concentrate

HOUR 16: 8pm
Children's book I would like to read:

Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
-Classic, Historical Children | Goodreads

HOUR 17: 9pm
Reading buddy: barely opened his eyes for photo shoot


HOUR 18: 10pm
Goal for the hour:

F O C U S
O N
R E A D I N G

HOUR 19: 11pm
Weird reading spot:

None. The only other place other than my couch or bed was at a cafe.

HOUR 20: 12am
What inspires you to be here:

Love the challenge in general to stay up as late as I can, devoted to reading.

HOUR 21: 1am
Gonna change things up with a big mug of tea, sweet treat and new book.


HOUR 22: 2am
Early morning fog has rolled into San Francisco bay. I can hear the fog horns outside. It sounds hypnotizing and may put me to sleep sooner than I wanted. -_-

HOUR 23: 3am
zzz

HOUR 24: 4am - 5am
zzz

WRAP-UP:
Closing Survey:
How would you assess your reading overall? ==> meh, was hoping it would help get me over a slump
Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it? ==> did not stick to it
What was your favorite snack? ==> Korean Butter Honey Chips
Wanna volunteer for our next event? ==> yes

The Sweeney Sister by Lian Dolan = 102 pages
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen = 15 pages

~*~

* THANKS to the hosts and volunteers :-)

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Lovely Books and Things - 4.19.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~

HAPPY THINGS:

1. Daily instagram videos from Leslie Jordan (here) - just the right amount of silly humor for these times

2. Yummy recipe: Wise Sons Roast Chicken Recipe from SFSU Alumni Association -Thanks! (here)

3. Supporting local businesses


~*~

Bought:

The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
-Memoir, Travel | Goodreads

Was intrigued after spotting this on bookworm's Sunday post (here).


Library: from my last visit (miss them)

Optic Nerve
by María Gainza
-Short stories, Art | Goodreads

And I Do Not Forgive You:
Stories & Other Revenges
by Amber Sparks
-Short Stories, Fantasy, Retellings | Goodreads

A Woman Like Her:
The Story Behind the Honor Killing of a Social Media Star
by Sanam Maher
-True Crime, Feminism, Pakistan | Goodreads


AND watched: online - YouTube

Murder Mystery and Makeup on Monday
by Bailey Sarian
-True Crime, Makeup | YouTube

Catching up on this true crime series created by Bailey Sarian. I like the short story format. I discovered Bailey from a Sunday post from I Wish I Liked In A Library (here).


Phantom of the Opera
part of the Shows Must Go On series
-Musicals | (YouTube)

For the next few weeks, Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals are being shown for free on Fridays 11am PST (7pm BST) and then available for 48 hours.

So far the following have been shown:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Jesus Christ Superstar
Phantom of the Opera

Looking forward to the reveal of this coming Friday's show.

~*~

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

*** THANKS to those on the front line during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Day 34, Week 6

Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Pre-Dewey's Read-a-thon: April 2020

Dewey's 24 hour Readathon
April 25, 2020 (details & signup)

Gonna give this a go...

TO DO before read-a-thon:
- stock up on favorite munchies
- set alarm for event start time (5am for PST)
- get some good sleeping time in before the event

TO DO during read-a-thon:
- read, blog, mini-challenges
- take breaks with a walk around the block or yoga

Have you done a read-a-thon before? How did it go?

Will you being joining in?


My reading list:


Some of this (fiction)...

The Sweeney Sisters
by Lian Dolan
-Women's Fiction | Goodreads


Some of that (non-fiction)...

The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen
-Memoir, Travel | Goodreads


 
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