Lovely Books and Things - 8.4.18

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. August is National Romance Awareness month - who knew?
I found out while listening to the morning show of the local classics radio station, KDFC.

2. Got organized and reduced the file pile

3. Planner Par-Tea event at Crown and Crumpet - always love the high tea service and the "lucky dip" planner related goodies ;-)

Although not pictured, my Happy Planner was at the scene along with colored pens and stickers for decorating.



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Bought:

Havana Lunar
by Robert Arellano
-Mystery, Caribbean, Havana
Amazon | Goodreads
AUGUST pick for the Foreign Intrigue Book Club (here).


Freebie:

The Curfew
by Jesse Ball
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
FOUND an ARC of this in the free bin at a local independent bookstore, Dog Eared Books, San Francisco.

SPEAKING of freebies, does any one want these swag pins for Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer? Let me know in comments or email me directly and I will send them your way.


Author event:

The Incendiaries
by R.O. Kwon
-Literary, Coming of Age, Asian American, Korean
Amazon | Goodreads
Green Apple Books on the Park, hosted a lively conversation about the release of The Incendiaries between author R.O. Kwon and poet Esme Weijun Wang. Cults are explored and examined in this novel.

The Completionist
by Siobhan Adcock
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
Green Apple Books on the Park, hosted a reading and Q&A with Siobhan Adcock for the release of The Completionist which is being recommended as a must-read after experiencing Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

PART of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2018 (here).


Library:

Her Pretty Face
by Robyn Harding
-Thriller, Women's Fiction
Release date: July 10, 2018
Amazon | Goodreads
PART of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2018 (here).


AND watched: on DVD

Juan of the Dead (2011)
Juan de los muertos (original title)
Director/Writer: Alejandro Brugués
Stars: Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andros Perugorría
-Action, Comedy, Havana, Horror, Zombies | imdb | my rating: 5
A group of slackers face an army of zombies. The Cuban government and media claim the living dead are dissidents revolting against the government.

MIX of zombie modes - slow, fast, climbers with a memorable makeshift guillotine scene.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2006)
Las Vegas, season 7
Miniature Killer storyline
Stars: William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger
-Crime, Drama, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 4
WATCHED this for the Miniature Killer story arc which drew me in.


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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Census by Jesse Ball

Census
by Jesse Ball
narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla


Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Twitter

Just released: March 2018
Publisher: Ecco
Genre: Literary, Dystopia
Hardback: 272
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
When a widower receives the devastating news that he doesn't have long to live, he is struck by the question of who will care for his adult son — a son whom he fiercely loves, a boy with Down syndrome.

When a widower receives notice from a doctor that he doesn’t have long left to live, he is struck by the question of who will care for his adult son—a son whom he fiercely loves, a boy with Down syndrome. With no recourse in mind, and with a desire to see the country on one last trip, the man signs up as a census taker for a mysterious governmental bureau and leaves town with his son.

Traveling into the country, through towns named only by ascending letters of the alphabet, the man and his son encounter a wide range of human experience. While some townspeople welcome them into their homes, others who bear the physical brand of past censuses on their ribs are wary of their presence. When they press toward the edges of civilization, the landscape grows wilder, and the towns grow farther apart and more blighted by industrial decay. As they approach “Z,” the man must confront a series of questions: What is the purpose of the census? Is he complicit in its mission? And just how will he learn to say good-bye to his son?

Mysterious and evocative, Census is a novel about free will, grief, the power of memory, and the ferocity of parental love, from one of our most captivating young writers.

My two-bits:

As with many road trips, this one provided a variety of experiences in a somewhat eerie futuristic setting. The encounters helped the protagonist reach solutions and solace.

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* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Rooster Summer Reading Challenge 2018 (here)

Lovely Books and Things - 6.9.18

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. My Happy Birthday week :-)

2. Won free movie tickets for the SF Documentary Film Festival

3. Alexander Nevsky at Herbst Theatre - I had a blast singing with the chorus at this performance.

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Bought:

THE Bindery hosted a conversation between Mariko Tamaki and Gene Luen Yang to celebrate the release of Mariko's Supergirl: Being Super. Cool talk on graphic novels, superheroes, DC vs. Marvel as well as Mariko's origin story.

Supergirl: Being Super
by Mariko Tamaki
illustrated by Joëlle Jones
-Graphic Novel, Superhero
Amazon | Goodreads
She's super-strong. She can fly. She crash-landed on Earth in a rocket ship. But for Kara Danvers, winning the next track meet, celebrating her 16th birthday and surviving her latest mega-zit are her top concerns. And with the help of her best friends and her kinda-infuriating-but-totally-loving adoptive parents, she just might be able to put her troubling dreams--shattered glimpses of another world--behind her.

Until an earthquake shatters her small town of Midvale...and uncovers secrets about her past she thought would always stay buried.

Now Kara's incredible powers are kicking into high gear, and people she trusted are revealing creepy ulterior motives. The time has come for her to choose between the world where she was born and the only world she's ever known. Will she find a way to save her town and be super, or will she crash and burn?

THIS will be my introduction to the superhero Supergirl as I do not know anything about her. Looking forward to the mega-zit part as that was spoken of affectionately at the talk.


Library: for the Rooster Summer Reading Challenge (here)

An American Marriage
by Tayari Jones
-Literary, African American
Amazon | Goodreads

Census
by Jesse Ball
-Literary, Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads

The Friend
by Sigrid Nunez
Amazon | Goodreads

Tomb Song
by Julián Herbert
-Literary, Historical
Amazon | Goodreads

AND watched: in theatre

The Pain of Others (2018)
Director: Penny Lane
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 4
The Pain of Others is a found footage documentary about Morgellons, a mysterious illness whose sufferers say they have parasites under the skin, long colored fibers emerging from lesions, and a host of other bizarre symptoms which could be borrowed from a horror film. The Pain of Others is composed entirely of videos shared by a group of "Morgies" who have turned to YouTube for community and to prove they're not crazy. Unsettling, funny and intimate, The Pain of Others is at once a body-horror documentary and a radical act of empathy.

INTERESTING compilation of videos to inform and start dialogue about this unusual illness.

American Animals (2018)
Director/Writer: Bart Layton
Stars: Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, Ann Dowd
-Crime, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
Four young men mistake their lives for a movie and attempt one of the most audacious heists in U.S. history.

LOVED the mish mosh kind of way this was filmed with heist movie pop culture references and documentary vibe.

EARLY birds got a free coloring book that is illustrated by one of the four, Spencer Reinhard.

RBG (2018)
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
Stars: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Nina Totenberg
-Documentary, Biography | imdb | my rating: 5
A look at the life and work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

AN amazing woman to take note of indeed!

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Tournament of Books Summer Reading Challenge 2018

Morning News Tournament of Books
Rooster Summer Reading Challenge 2018
details
We’ve selected six Rooster-worthy works of fiction from 2018 to read over the next three months—two per month—and once a week we’ll meet back (here) to discuss our reading progress.

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JOINING another one...

I really like the books selected by the Tournament of Books for this challenge (and for ones selected in past tournaments) and enjoy the critique and discussions presented.

I am already working on other reading challenges this year so may not necessarily read everything on the list per timing.

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The Summer 2018 Reading Schedule:

June 6: Tomb Song, through page 109
June 13: Tomb Song to end
June 20: An American Marriage, through page 145
June 27: An American Marriage to end
July 3: Circe, through chapter 15
July 11: Circe to end
July 18: Census through “G”
July 25: Census to end
Aug. 1: The Friend through Part Six (page 112)
Aug. 8: The Friend to end
Aug. 15: Kudos to page 120
Aug. 22: Kudos to end—voting begins
Aug. 29: Winner announced

Book list:

An American Marriage
by Tayari Jones
-Literary, African American
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

Census
by Jesse Ball
-Literary, Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

Circe
by Madeline Miller
-Fantasy, Mythology, Retelling
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

The Friend
by Sigrid Nunez
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

Kudos
by Rachel Cusk
-Literary, Contemporary
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF

Tomb Song
by Julián Herbert
-Literary, Historical
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

Stacking the Shelves - 4.4.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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Bought:

Aquarium
by David Vann
-Contemporary, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
SIGN up to win this here -expires Apr 6
=====> Along with the scaly cover look, there are color photos of various sea creatures interspersed within the novel.

For Review:

One Thing Stolen
by Beth Kephart
-Contemporary, Italy, YA
courtesy of publisher
Thanks !
Amazon | Goodreads

Years and an Ocean
by Jo Noelle
-Historical
courtesy of book tour
Thanks !
Amazon | Goodreads

FYI: 2015 Rooster Award goes to...

Morning News Tournament of Books
11th Rooster Award
for best fiction (details)
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
-dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Fun to note that this book was resurrected in the Zombie Round and won. And then, it went on to win in the final round.

I did read this and liked it. The review will be posted later this week.

After following the lively discussions for the books in competition, I plan on adding these to my tbr pile...

An Untamed State
by Roxane Gay
-Contemporary
Amazon | Goodreads

A Brief History of Seven Killings
by Marlon James
-Crime, Historical, Mystery
Amazon | Goodreads

Silence Once Begun
by Jesse Ball
-Japan, Mystery
Amazon | Goodreads

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
by Elena Ferrante
-Italy
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> This is the third part of a trilogy and I am contemplating whether or not to start with book one. If you have read this and can comment about it, I would love to hear it.

AND binge watching:

Portlandia
tv series, season 5
-comedy
Per imdb:
A sketch-comedy series that parodies life in Portland, Oregon.

Love the theme song:


Feel It All Around
by Washed Out

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

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers