Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 56

Star Trek Beyond goes where many movies have gone before, still gives you a good time (But I want more)

My ancient Star Trek paperbacks, which the cats attempted to use as scratching posts Star Trek Beyond is brisk and efficient, with impressive set pieces and the comedy partnership of Spock (Zachary Quinto) and McCoy (Karl Urban). All that was missing was Bones saying, “He’s dead, Jim.” The big action scenes could be clearer—the geography […]

How well-read are you? Take this Book Quiz

Here. It’s from the Strand Bookstore Application form. Watch out for trick questions.

The new Ghostbusters survives the sliming

Why are people furious over the very concept of a Ghostbusters movie starring women? Since the Ghostbusters remake was announced there has been a concerted campaign to make the project fail. What, only guys can design and aim proton packs? Ghostbusters starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones is amiable, amusing, and […]

How technology disrupted the truth (On social media, ‘truth’ equals ‘likes’)

Illustration: Sébastien Thibault in The Guardian Algorithms such as the one that powers Facebook’s news feed are designed to give us more of what they think we want – which means that the version of the world we encounter every day in our own personal stream has been invisibly curated to reinforce our pre-existing beliefs. […]

Congratulations to the winner of our GoT Moleskine contest

That’s abcabc’s canine housemate, who looks like a handsome young Chewbacca.

Where are my glasses?

Chus gave me this book, which he found at Dia de Libro this year (at Ayala Triangle, where Instituto Cervantes has moved). It’s a picture book for adults who keep forgetting where they left their glasses. (The solution is to have several pairs of glasses, so you can put one on to find the missing […]

The easiest way to get into Tolstoy’s War and Peace

There have been many film and TV adaptations of War and Peace, but the 2016 BBC series written by Andrew Davies and directed by Tom Harper is especially accessible to the contemporary audience. In this case accessible is a good thing because it will drive viewers to the source. The Louise and Aylmer Maude translation, […]

How to get back into reading when you have been distracted by the outside world

Method reading! This has been my worst reading year so far. For many years I’ve read at least one book a week to keep my brain running; in the last six months I’ve finished exactly three (The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild—very amusing, Gun Dealers’ Daughter by Gina Apostol—required reading on the last years […]

Nicholas Hoult is playing J.D. Salinger

in Rebel in the Rye, a biopic directed by Jonathan from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 1. Hate the title. 2. Nicholas is too good-looking, but it’s a movie. 3. J.D. Salinger would certainly not approve, but he’s dead. 4. Didn’t see the earlier documentary. 5. Have the book, haven’t read it. 6. So no one […]

Poem to read while waiting for the page to finish loading with your “fast” connection

Buddha is the Bookstore Cat of the Month. Account by Czeslaw Milosz translated by Czeslaw Milosz The history of my stupidity would fill many volumes. Some would be devoted to acting against consciousness, Like the flight of a moth which, had it known, Would have tended nevertheless toward the candle’s flame. Others would deal with […]