Lovely Books and Things - 8.18.18

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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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Dreaming and making plans for travel to Portugal in the fall season.

2. Listening to hits from the 80's.

3. Black Forest Cake from Schubert's Bakery - film made me do it ;-)

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Author event:

A River of Stars
by Vanessa Hua
-Contemporary Fiction, China
Amazon | Goodreads
Booksmith in San Francisco hosted a celebrated the release of A River of Stars with author Vanessa Hua in-conversation with Oscar Villalon, Managing Editor of ZYZZYVA. A couple things spoiled during discussion at this jam-packed event. Ah well, still plan to read it though. The inspiration for the story was triggered by the maternity centers phenomenon. Also, Vanessa's previously released short story collections includes a couple characters from this story.

Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win
by Jo Piazza
-Women's Fiction, Politics
Amazon | Goodreads
BookShop West Portal hosted a panel discussion with author, Jo Piazza and Lindsay Lassman, political fundraiser; Kimberly Ellis, former Executive Director of Emerge CA; and Judson True, Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to Assemblyperson David Chiu.

A lively and informative discussion on the state of women and politics highlighted this event that also introduced Jo Piazza's latest, Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win.


Other book-ish stuff:

Bout of Books 23
read-a-thon
hosted by Bout of Books
August 20 to 26, 2018
signup | details | my post
JOINING this challenge for a third round of fun ;-)

The Fall Film Challenge
September 1 to November 30, 2018
hosted by Quirky Pickings | details | facebook group
SIGNED up to do this again! Some of the films I picked were based on books. See my complete list (here).


AND watched: in theatre

The Cakemaker (2017)
Director/screenplay: Ofir Raul Graizer
Stars: Tim Kalkhof, Sarah Adler, Roy Miller
-Drama, Israel, Germany | imdb | my rating: 5
A German pastry maker travels to Jerusalem in search of the wife and son of his dead lover.

BEAUTIFULLY done with scenes in Berlin and Jerusalem. Themes of being kosher, germans, jews, love and loneliness with the binding element of food. Gotta love it.


AND watched: on Netflix

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Director: Mike Newell
Screenplay: Don Roos, Kevin Hood, Thomas Bezucha
Based on book by: Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Stars: Lily James, Michiel Huisman
-Drama, History, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5
In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war.

LOVELY adaptation that treats us to a few actors from Downton Abbey.


AND watched: on DVD

The Shallows (2016)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Anthony Jaswinski
Stars: Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Angelo Josue Lozano Corzo
-Drama, Horror, Thriller, Shark | imdb | my rating: 5
A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.

PERFECT summer horror flick and villain.


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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians
by Kevin Kwan

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
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Published: 2014
Publisher: Anchor
Genre: Chick-lit, Romance, Asian American, Singapore
Hardback: 544
Rating: 5

Crazy Asians series:
Crazy Rich Asians
China Rich Girlfriend
Rich People Problems

First sentence(s):
London, 1986
Nicholas Young slumped into the nearest seat in the hotel lobby, drained from the sixteen-hour flight from Singapore, the train from Heathrow Airport, and trudging through the rain-soaked streets.

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor.

On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

Zombie sighting:
Astrid continued to recount her adventures in Paris while Michael stared zombielike at the sports channel on mute.
-chapter 9, page 76

My two-bits:

ABSOLUTELY loved getting into this world of wealth with all its complications and drama.

PeekAbook: trailer for film that released today!

Lovely Books and Things - 8.11.18

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. Loving arm-chair traveling to Singapore via reading Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. And, excited to continue the fun with book 2 of the trilogy, China Rich Girlfriend.

2. Free tickets to see the film The Wife.

3. Visiting the Legion of Honor museum and finding art by Julian Schnabel

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Library:

Next Year in Havana
by Chanel Cleeton
-Romance, Caribbean, Cuba, Havana
Amazon | Goodreads
REESE Witherspoon's book club July pick (here).


Author event:

The Masterpiece
by Fiona Davis
-Historical, New York City
Just released: August 7, 2018
Amazon | Goodreads
BookShop West Portal hosted an event with Fiona Davis to celebrate the release of her third historical novel set in New York's Grand Central Terminal, The Masterpiece. Loved to listen to the research process for the novel and found that Helen Dryden was one of inspirational points.


AND watched: in theatre

Puzzle (2018)
Director: Marc Turtletaub
Screenplay: Polly Mann, Oren Moverman
based on the Argentinian film "Rompecabezas" by: Natalia Smirnoff
Stars: Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan, David Denman
-Drama | imdb | my rating: 4
Agnes, taken for granted as a suburban mother, discovers a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles which unexpectedly draws her into a new world - where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined.

LOVED the scenes at Grand Central Station. One of those taking stock of your life stories.

The Wife (2018)
Director: Björn Runge
Screenplay: Jane Anderson
Based on book by: Meg Wolitzer
Stars: Christian Slater, Glenn Close, Max Irons
-Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

GLENN is amazing in this role. Interesting take on a couple and the power that writing holds.


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

Thanks for stopping by :-)