Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Reading Wrap Up: June 2021

READING WRAP UP
(books not listed on book club and challenge posts)
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
by Robert Kolker
Biography, Mental Health | Published: 2020 | Goodreads | my rating: 5

The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins—aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?

What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.

With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.


Fascinating. Sad but hopeful. Glad they shared their story.

Things We Lost to the Water
by Eric Nguyen
Historical, LGBTQ, Vietnamese American | Published: May 4, 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

When Huong arrives in New Orleans with her two young sons, she is jobless, homeless, and worried about her husband, Cong, who remains in Vietnam. As she and her boys begin to settle in to life in America, she continues to send letters and tapes back to Cong, hopeful that they will be reunited and her children will grow up with a father.

But with time, Huong realizes she will never see her husband again. While she copes with this loss, her sons, Tuan and Binh grow up in their absent father's shadow, haunted by a man and a country trapped in their memory and imagination. As they push forward, the three adapt to life in America in different ways: Huong takes up with a Vietnamese car salesman who is also new in town; Tuan tries to connect with his heritage by joining a local Vietnamese gang; and Binh, now going by Ben, embraces his adopted homeland and his burgeoning sexuality. Their search for identity--as individuals and as a family--threatens to tear them apart. But then disaster strikes the city they now call home, and they must find a new way to come together and honor the ties that bind them.


Immigrant experience, hard decisions (consequences) and struggles from Asian perspectives.

Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty
by Lauren Weisberger
ChickLit, ARC | Published: May 18, 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and When Life Gives You Lululemons comes a highly entertaining, sharply observed novel about sisters, their perfect lives . . . and their perfect lies.

A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin. An adoring husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. Peyton is that woman. She has it all.

Until . . .

Skye, her sister, is a stay-at-home mom living in a glitzy suburb of New York. She has degrees from all the right schools and can helicopter-parent with the best of them. But Skye is different from the rest. She’s looking for something real and dreams of a life beyond the PTA and pickup.

Until . . .

Max, Peyton’s bright and quirky seventeen-year-old daughter, is poised to kiss her fancy private school goodbye and head off to pursue her dreams in film. She’s waited her entire life for this opportunity.

Until . . .

One little lie. That’s all it takes. For the illusions to crack. For resentments to surface. Suddenly the grass doesn’t look so green. And they’re left wondering: will they have what it takes to survive the truth?


It was hard to like these characters and the things they did. But I liked how they worked their way through their problems and issues.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Happy release: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Historical, New York | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian--who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white--her complexion is dark because she is African American.


First paragraph:
November 28, 1905
Princeton, New Jersey

The Old North bell tolls the hour, and I realize that I'll be late. I long to break into a sprint, my voluminous skirts lifted, my legs flying along the Princeton University pathways. But just as I gather the heavy material, I hear Mama's voice: Belle, be a lady at all times. I sigh; a lady would never run.

About the authors:

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator. A graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, she is the New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine. All have been translated into multiple languages. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Victoria Christopher Murray is an acclaimed author with more than one million books in print. She has written more than twenty novels, including Stand Your Ground, a NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Fiction and a Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.

Monday, June 28, 2021

Books and Puzzles: The Principles of Uncertainty

Whimsical whimsy...

book: The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman

PeekAbook:
puzzle: Roadsides of the Southwest art by Stephen Moran
Masterpieces Inc. (550 pc)

cookie: Mustachioed sugar cookie from Angelina's

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Lovely Books and Things - 6.27.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


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

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Halo Halo flavored Mitchell's Ice Cream located in the Mission District (here)
2. Became one of the hosts for Mailbox Monday (here) and my posts start in July 😊
3. First movie theatre outing (since last year) with friends to see In The Heights
~*~

Bought:
The Chosen and the Beautiful
by Nghi Vo
1920s, LGBTQ, Vietnamese, Retelling (The Great Gatsby) | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
fyi: Goodreads Giveaway for this ends June 29

Library:
The House in the Cerulean Sea
by T.J. Klune
Fantasy, LGBTQ | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

Freebies: from Free Little Library
The Terranauts
by T.C. Boyle
SciFi, Historical | Published: 2016 | Goodreads

To Be Featured:
Ghost Forest
by Pik-Shuen Fung
Contemporary, Chinese Canadian | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!

~*~
AND watched: theatre
In The Heights (2021)
Director: Jon M. Chu
Screenplay: Quiara Alegría Hudes
Based on Musical Stage Play Music and Lyrics by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Stars: Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera
Drama, Musical | imdb | my rating: 5

A film version of the Broadway musical in which Usnavi, a sympathetic New York bodega owner, saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.

Immigrant and American dream stories in musical form.

AND watched: DVD
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
Director/Writer: Jake Kasdan
Writers: Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg
Based on book: Chris Van Allsburg
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan
Action, Adventure, Comedy | imdb | my rating: 4

In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to rescue one of their own, the players will have to brave parts unknown from arid deserts to snowy mountains, to escape the world's most dangerous game.

I did not see the first film, but enjoyed this romp into a video game scenario. Fun summer film.
Jungleland (2019)
Director/Writer: Max Winkler
Writers: Theodore Bressman, David Branson Smith
Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Jack O'Connell, Jessica Barden
Drama | imdb | my rating: 5

Two brothers try to escape their circumstances by travelling across the country for a no holds barred boxing match that becomes a fight for their lives.

Talent, passion, sacrifice, oh yeah.
~*~

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Books and Laundry: Wretchedness

Wretchedness
by Andrzej Tichý
translated by Nichola Smalley
Literary, Sweden | Published: 2020 (first 2016) | Goodreads

Waiting by the canal in Malmö, a young cellist meets a disorientated junkie. The encounter sends him into a turmoil of memories, voices and associations. As the cellist oscillates between present and past, he is paralysed by doubt and confusion and he begins to question his own place in society.

From sprawling social housing estates, via basement clubs and squat parties, and culminating in a dramatic role reversal, Wretchedness is a delirious trip through Europe’s underbelly. With a rhythmic, mesmerising flow, Tichy’s novel explores the possibility of social mobility and the ambivalent desire to escape your origins, asking how to love your neighbour when that neighbour is an addict, a criminal, wretched.


Love the reading time that comes with doing laundry. Sure does help the time pass quickly.

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Lovely Books and Things - 6.20.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


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

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Packing up the old office to get ready for a move into a new location
2. Pool side dining with Grandma - felt like being on vacation on a tropical island
3. Amusing social distance sign - keep 3 sourdough baguettes apart
~*~

Freebies: from Free Little Library
The Pyramid: The First Wallander Cases
by Henning Mankell
translated by Ebba Segerberg, Laurie Thompson
Crime, Mystery, Sweden | Published: 2009 (first 1999) | Goodreads


Wretchedness
by Andrzej Tichý
translated by Nichola Smalley
Literary, Sweden | Published: 2020 (first 2016) | Goodreads


Miss Buncle's Book
by D.E. Stevenson
Classic, Humor, Historical, England | Published: 2012 (first 1934) | Goodreads


To Be Featured:
The Hive
by Gregg Olsen
Mystery, Thriller | Published: June 8, 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of author -Thanks!

~*~

Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)
Buy Me Love
by Martha Cooley
Contemporary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


~*~
AND watched: virtual screening
The Sparks Brothers (2021)
Director: Edgar Wright
Stars: Ron Mael, Russell Mael
Documentary, Music | imdb | my rating: 5

THE SPARKS BROTHERS, is a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with Ron and Russell Mael celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks.

Eye opening documentary on these prolific, inspiring, innovative artists. I only remember them from the 80's song Cool Places that featured Jane Wiedlin.

Shanghai Queer (2019)
Director: Xiangqi Chen
Writer: Jiamin Hu
Documentary, China | imdb | my rating: 4

Shanghai Queer documents LGBTQ communities' pursuit of equality and freedom in Shanghai, China.

~*~

AND watched: DVD
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw (2019)
Director: David Leitch
Writers: Chris Morgan, Drew Pearce
Based on characters created by: Gary Scott Thompson
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba
Action, Adventure, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5

Lawman Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and outcast Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) form an unlikely alliance when a cyber-genetically enhanced villain threatens the future of humanity.

Perfect summer action and adventure with that familiar fun, fast and furious vibe.

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Books and Puzzles: Hidden Valley Road

Mixed feels: Happy memories and sad but hopeful memoir

book: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

puzzle: Secret Cottage art by Dennis Lewan
Milton Bradley Puzzle (500 pc)

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Lovely Books and Things - 6.13.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


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

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Receiving a pretty bouquet of flowers
2. Exploring intermittent fasting
3. Spotting a whimisical mural while walking on Polk Street
~*~

Freebies: from Free Little Library
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
(Isabel Dalhousie #2)
by Alexander McCall Smith
Mystery, Scotland | Published: 2005 | Goodreads


For Review:
No Spring Chicken
Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper on Aging and Disability
by Francine Falk-Allen
Travel, Disability | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!


The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Historical, New York | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!


*!*~Winner~*!*
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu
by Tom Lin
Western, Chinese American | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of author -Thanks!

To Be Featured:
Never Saw Me Coming
by Vera Kurian
Mystery | Published: September 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!


~*~
Virtual Author event: hosted by Third Place Books
See archive of this (here)

With Teeth
by Kristen Arnett
LGBTQ, Contemporary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)
Rainbow Milk
by Paul Mendez
LGBTQ, Historical | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


Virtual Author event: hosted by Book Passages
See archive of this (here)
Animal
by Lisa Taddeo
Thriller, Feminism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


Should We Stay Or Should We Go
by Lionel Shriver
Contemporary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


~*~
AND watched: DVD
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Director/Writer: Emerald Fennell
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie
Crime, Drama, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5

A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.

Ooo, vengeance. A dark heroine of sorts who brought the shivers.

The Invisibile Man (2020)
Director/Screenplay: Leigh Whannell
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer
Drama, Horror, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 5

When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

Loved this new take on the invisible man. More shivers with this story.

~*~

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Friday, June 11, 2021

Griffin's Heart by Reagan J. Pasternak

Griffin's Heart
Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies
by Reagan J. Pasternak
Self-help, memoir, grief, journal | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | website


Griffin’s Heart is an interactive guide to pet loss and navigating the grief process. Through journaling, healing exercises, and contributions, readers will find an outlet for their pain while creating a keepsake filled with beautiful memories.

Losing a pet can be devastating and isolating. The trauma and grief that ensues is often trivialized or misunderstood by friends and family but it is unyielding and must be attended to. Griffin's Heart is an unwavering companion during the most difficult time and provides the reader with practical tools to help make sense of and navigate grief and loss.

Author Reagan Pasternak’s own story unfolds as the pages progress, reminding readers that they are not alone in their sorrow and that hope exists for all of us.

A Memoir, Healing Journal, and Keepsake.

Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies

Reagan's Story

Healing Through Journaling

• Find comfort and meaning in your loss

• Discover hope through the author's story

• Create a keepsake filled with precious memories


Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Happy release: The Hive by Gregg Olsen

The Hive
by Gregg Olsen
Mystery, Thriller | Published: June 8, 2021 | Goodreads

In the Pacific Northwest, police officer Lindsay Jackman is investigating the murder of a young journalist found at the bottom of a ravine. Lindsay soon learns that the victim was writing an exposé. Her subject: a charismatic wellness guru who’s pulled millions into her euphoric orbit… To hear Marnie Spellman tell it, when she was a child, a swarm of bees lifted her off the ground and toward the sunlight, an uncanny event on which Marnie built a cosmetics empire and became a legend, a healer, and the queen of holistic health and eternal beauty. In her inner circle is an intimate band of devotees called the Hive. They share Marnie’s secrets of success—including one cloaked in darkness for twenty years.

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Lovely Books and Things - 6.6.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


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

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Start of my birthday month :-)
2. 3-day weekend - short work week
3. Walking the stairways in Corona Heights, Saturn (with garden), Vulcan stairway and Mt. Olympus (with obelisk monument). Couples pics in collage is from TT.

~*~


To Be Featured:
What's Done in Darkness
by Laura McHugh
Mystery, Thriller | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!


The Other Black Girl
by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Mystery, Thriller | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!


~*~
Virtual Author event: hosted by Murder By The Book
See archive of this (here)
Dead Dead Girl
(Harlem Renaissance Mystery #1)
by Nekesa Afia
Mystery, Historical | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


Virtual Author event: hosted by Third Place Books
See archive of this (here)
The Nature of Witches
by Rachel Griffin
YA, Fantasy, Witches | Published: 2021 | Goodreads


~*~
AND watched: Netflix
High on the Hog (2021)
How African American Cuisine Transformed America
tv series
Documentary, History | imdb | my rating: 5

Black food is American food. Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield traces the delicious, moving throughlines from Africa to Texas in this docuseries.

Foodies delight. Would love a meal at Hercules and Hemmings in Los Angeles.

AND watched: DVD
Tenet (2020)
Director/Writer: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki
Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5

Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.

Huh?! But an entertaining wild ride in past/future/present?!

~*~

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

 
Imagination Designs
Images from: Lovelytocu