Saturday, January 6, 2018

Lovely Books and Things - 1.6.18

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

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

~*~

After being in a reading slump for the past couple months, I am getting back into habit of reading novels everyday! Yay!

Current happy things:

1. Setting up my Happy Planner for 2018 - goal setting, doodling, decorating with stickers and hand lettering

2. Enjoying a good cheeseburger (with cheddar) and fries

3. Blooming amaryllis - this is my first. I spotted it at Trader Joe's with the notation that no water or care was needed. I says to myself, "Really?" and bought one for the heck of it. And look what it did...


~*~

Bought:

The Last Mrs. Parrish
by Liv Constantine
Amazon | Goodreads

CATCHING up with the December pick for Reese Witherspoon's Book Club.

Freebie:

Truth or Beard
by Penny Reid
-Romance
Amazon | Goodreads

SPOTTED this on someone's Stacking Shelves last week. The cover and title just tickled - so do the covers for the rest in the series.


For Review:

The Birdwoman's Palate
by Laksmi Pamuntjak
translated by Tiffany Tsao
-Literary, Indonesia
courtesy of Amazon Kindle First -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

STILL feeling tropical from my Bali trip last year. Picked this up for some arm chair traveling.

Gift:

Choices
A Two-Family Love Story
by Magda V. Grant
-Contemporary Fiction, Family
Amazon | Goodreads

MY mother-in-law self published her first book! Exciting!


OTHER things (kinda book-related):

Romance Read-of-the-Month Club
(signup & details)

JOIN the club for free romance ebooks from a wonderful lineup of authors.

Now able to read on a larger variety of devices, including a Kindle, Nook, phone, and laptop!

Badass Herstory
instagram details | signup
#BadassHERstory

EXPLORING craftivism.


AND watched: in theatre

Phantom Thread (2017)
Director/Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Stars: Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville
-Crime, Drama, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5

Set in 1950's London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.

GOT a Q&A with the director at this screening. He shared his excitement for working with Daniel Day Lewis a second time - first being with the film There Will Be Blood.

LOVED this gothic romance story with its fashion and decor. A great film for Daniel Day Lewis to end his activing career with. Going to watch it again for the details ;-)


AND watched: online

Tin Men (1987)
Director/Writer: Barry Levinson
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, Barbara Hershey
-Comedy, Drama | imdb | my rating: 3

A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore.

For post-Fall Film challenge bonus round: nine. it's always sunny in philadelphia. Danny DeVito

GOOD acting but unlikable characters.

Logan Lucky (2017)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Rebecca Blunt
Stars: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig
-Comedy, Crime, Drama | imdb | my rating: 4

Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.

For post-Fall Film challenge bonus round: sixteen. parenthood. David Denman

SLOW start but gradual heist action plays out well. Adam Driver is becoming a favorite to watch. LOL - another part for him where he is missing a hand.


AND watched: on DVD

Atomic Blonde (2017)
Director: David Leitch
Screenplay: Kurt Johnstad
Based on graphic novel series The Coldest City by: Antony Johnston
Stars: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy,
-Action, Mystery, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

BEEN meaning to watch this sooner because of Charlize. And got prompted to see it after reading the graphic novel, The Coldest Winter, it was based on which I loved. The 80s soundtrack rocked. Charlize was awesome as this action heroine. Loved her persona and style.

~*~

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

:-)

Friday, January 5, 2018

The Coldest Winter by Antony Johnston

The Coldest Winter
by Antony Johnston
illustrated by Steven Perkins

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

Published: 2016
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: Graphic Novel, Espionage, Historical, Mystery
Hardback: 184
Rating: 4

The Coldest series:
The Coldest City
The Coldest Winter

After a string of botched assignments for MI6 in Berlin, David Perceval is being sent home. Even his final mission before leaving ― the defection of a Soviet scientist ― goes badly wrong, as the coldest winter for 30 years descends on Europe.

With transport out of Berlin impossible, and the KGB searching everywhere for their lost scientist, Perceval must improvise a deadly game of cat and mouse through the frozen city to keep the Russians at bay, and deliver his own unique brand of revenge!


PeekAbook:


My two-bits:

This is a prequel to The Coldest City with a focus on a character found in the first story. It captures that noir spy world in black and white shadows splashed on each page.

I was missing Lorraine from the first book but this did well in twists and turns and twists again.


Thursday, January 4, 2018

The Coldest City by Antony Johnston

The Coldest City
by Antony Johnston
illustrated by Sam Hart

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

Published: 2012
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: Graphic Novel, Espionage, Historical, Mystery
Hardback: 176
Rating: 5

The Coldest series:
The Coldest City
The Coldest Winter

November 1989. Communism is collapsing, and soon the Berlin Wall will come down with it. But before that happens there is one last bit of cloak & dagger to attend to. Two weeks ago, an undercover MI6 officer was killed in Berlin. He was carrying information from a source in the East — a list that allegedly contains the name of every espionage agent working in Berlin, on all sides. No list was found on his body. Now Lorraine Broughton, an experienced spy with no pre-existing ties to Berlin, has been sent into this powderkeg of social unrest, counter-espionage, defections gone bad and secret assassinations to bring back the list and save the lives of the British agents whose identities reside on it.

PeekAbook:


My two-bits:

Spotted this as the library and the title grabbed me. It so happened that the weather was quite cold outside (well for San Francisco standards) and the winter season upon us contributed to my selecting it during this particular library run. I later found out that the movie version of this graphic novel was released as Atomic Blonde in 2017.

This story is told in black/white panels with some blue tinge throughout which captures the mood brilliantly.

Lorraine is one of those kick-ass heroines to watch out and cheer for. She provides the goods and plenty of action to boot.

The story is your stereotypical espionage tale with cool twists and turns and twists again.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Foreign Intrigue Book Club 2018

Foreign Intrigue Book Club
face-to-face (details)
Books, Inc. Laurel Village

Do you like to travel? Experience a country through the eyes of a local? Try the food of another country?

I tried this back in October and got hooked as it includes some much needed arm-chair traveling.

2017

October pick:

Murder Under the Bridge:
A Palestine Mystery

by Kate Jessica Raphael
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

2018

January pick:

Whitefly
by Abdelilah Hamdouchi
translated by Jonathan Smolin
-Mystery, Africa, Morocco
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

February pick:

The Dry
by Jane Harper
-Mystery, Australia
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

March pick:

The Neruda Case
by Roberto Ampuero
-Mystery, Historical, Chile
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF

April pick:

Death Going Down
by María Angélica Bosco
translated by Lucy Greaves
-Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Argentina, Buenos Aires
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

May pick:

Needle In A Haystack
by Ernesto Mallo
-Mystery, Argentina, Buenos Aires
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

June pick:

Hotel Brasil
by Frei Betto, Jethro Soutar
-Mystery, Argentina, Brazil
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

July pick:

Another Sun
by Timothy Williams
-Mystery, Caribbean, Guadalupe
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

August pick:

Havana Lunar
by Robert Arellano
-Mystery, Cuba, Havana
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

September pick:

Death On Demand
by Paul Thomas
-Mystery, New Zealand
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5

October pick:

Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness
by David Casarett
-Mystery, Cozy, Thailand
Goodreads | my review: tba

November pick:

Ghost Month
(A Taipei Night Market #1)
by Ed Lin
-Mystery, China | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

December & January pick:

Six Four
by Hideo Yokoyama
translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies
-Mystery, Thriller, Japan
Amazon | Goodreads
my review | my rating: 4

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

First Book Of The Year 2018

First Book Of The Year 2018
hosted by Book Journey (details) | (2018 post)

Ringing in the new year with...

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

Eve Fletcher is trying to figure out what comes next. A forty-six-year-old divorcee whose beloved only child has just left for college, Eve is struggling to adjust to her empty nest when one night her phone lights up with a text message. Sent from an anonymous number, the mysterious sender tells Eve, “U R my MILF!” Over the months that follow, that message comes to obsess Eve. While leading her all-too-placid life—serving as Executive Director of the local senior center by day and taking a community college course on Gender and Society at night—Eve can’t curtail her own interest in a porn website called MILFateria.com, which features the erotic exploits of ordinary, middle-aged women like herself. Before long, Eve’s online fixations begin to spill over into real life, revealing new romantic possibilities that threaten to upend her quiet suburban existence.

Meanwhile, miles away at the state college, Eve’s son Brendan—a jock and aspiring frat boy—discovers that his new campus isn’t nearly as welcoming to his hard-partying lifestyle as he had imagined. Only a few weeks into his freshman year, Brendan is floundering in a college environment that challenges his white-dude privilege and shames him for his outmoded, chauvinistic ideas of sex. As the New England autumn turns cold, both mother and son find themselves enmeshed in morally fraught situations that come to a head on one fateful November night.

Sharp, witty, and provocative, Mrs. Fletcher is a timeless examination of sexuality, identity, parenthood, and the big clarifying mistakes people can make when they’re no longer sure of who they are or where they belong.

 
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