S. Lee Spelbring's Blog, page 19
March 20, 2019
[Theater] Movie Review – The Mule
The Mule is Clint Eastwood’s most recent movie as of this review. Clint has been a staple in my parent’s household since his days of westerns and no name cowboys. So it wasn’t that far a stretch to go see this movie in theaters.
It was a full theater when I went so I had to sit right up front and all the way to the right. I found a comfortable position and watched. Clint’s dry humor shines throughout the movie, and gives into elderly humor, including a Ben Gay gag, some unknowing use of somewhat racist terminology that turned into a learning experience, and lots of cellphone education.
The storyline is a sad one, so the ending isn’t exactly redeeming, but it fits with the storyline so I was happy with it. I don’t know if it’s worthy of buying the DVD, but I’m sure I’ll be getting it to add to my parent’s Clint Eastwood collection, it’ll sit next to Gran Torino.
March 16, 2019
Meet Me at the Library
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More library fun! I continue reading through Sue Grafton’s Alphabet Mysteries and picked up a short story collection from my favorite author (Stephen King)!
B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton:
Although business has been slow lately for P.I. Kinsey Millhone, she’s reluctant to take on the case of locating Beverly Danziger’s sister Elaine Boldt. It’s a small matter that Beverly should be able to handle herself. So why is she enlisting Kinsey’s services? Beverly claims she needs Elaine’s signature on some documents so that she can collect a small inheritance. But the whole affair doesn’t sit well with Kinsey. And if there’s something she’s learned in her line of work, it’s to always follow your instincts…
Kinsey’s hunch proves true when she begins her inquiries into Elaine’s whereabouts and discovers that the attractive widow was last seen in a flashy lynx coat boarding a plane for Boca Raton. But the more Kinsey searches for Elaine the more questions she encounters. Is Elaine’s disappearance tied in to the brutal murder several months ago of one of her bridge partners? And what happened to Elaine’s Persian cat who seems to have also vanished?
Things take a turn for the worse when a stranger vandalizes the home of one of Elaine’s neighbors and another neighbor turns up murdered. With her reputation and career on the line, Kinsey risks all to find a missing woman and a killer who’s waiting in the shadows to strike again…
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King:
“I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger…” writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up “1922.” the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness.
In “Big Driver,” a cozy-mystery writer named Tess encounters the stranger along a back road in Massachusetts when she takes a shortcut home after a book-club engagement. Violated and left for dead, Tess plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself.
“Fair Extension,” the shortest of these tales, is perhaps the nastiest and certainly the funniest. Making a deal with the devil not only saves Dave Streeter from a fatal cancer but provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment.
When her husband of more than twenty years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It’s a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitely ends a good marriage.
Like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, which generated such enduring films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, Full Dark, No Stars proves Stephen King a master of the long story form.
What have you been reading lately?
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March 13, 2019
The Makeup of a Confident Woman by Trish McEvoy
The Makeup of a Confident Woman: The Science of Beauty, the Gift of Time, and the Power of Putting Your Best Face Forward by Trish McEvoy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Don’t apologize for the way you look.
This is not just a “how to put on makeup book” (she does do that, but it’s not the entirety of the book), this is a self-care handbook based on makeup. Yep. The first chapter or two is basically “making time for yourself” and “if you look good, you feel good”, which works well with makeup.
After that, Trish gets into her 8 Step System, with 3 Levels of intensity. She explains it all in her book so I won’t get into it too deeply, but Level 1 people are those who wear makeup sometimes, but mostly are indifferent. Level 2 people take some time to put makeup on most days, and Level 3 people should have been makeup artists in another life.
Then she gets into the tutorials, following the steps and going through the levels. There are 5 tutorials, and then a series of how to correct your flaws, plus a section on tools. This book will not turn you into a makeup artist, but it can give you some tips on how to do your own makeup a little better, or give you a new technique to try.
March 9, 2019
Blog Expansion: New Reviews!
I’ve actually been thinking about this for awhile, at least a year. The original idea was to start a youtube channel for this blog (which still might happen) and start making video reviews to go along with my blog posts. Well, that’s still a little beyond me at the moment, but one of the new things I was going to add to this channel was movie reviews.
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Movies is something I’ve been interested in almost as long as books, and my collection of DVDs is almost as big. I also share a Netflix subscription with my family, and go to movies at the theater with a coworker. So I consume a lot of movies. Many movies are even based on books, so I will be focusing on those, but my movie tastes are pretty vast, so there will be others featured.
I will also admit that this will also force me to actually watch those $3.74 Walmart movies I keep picking up, putting on the shelf, and forgetting I own them. This will also mean there will be less gaps in my posting schedules. So good for you, good for me, win win!
What movies have you watched recently?
March 6, 2019
The Pokemon Go! Book Tag
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I really like the idea behind this book tag. I love Pokemon and have been working through Pokemon: Yellow Version lately so this came to me at just the right time. It’s originally created by readatmidnight.com, but I found it from The Bibliophile Girl (she has collected a lot of fun tags so you’ll be seeing more from her). So without further ado, here we GO!
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I’ve mentioned this series before, but in particular the first book Into the Land of the Unicorns, is my first, full, memory of staying up late and reading a book, and then getting yelled at for it from my mother.
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I don’t know if there are any classics that I love, but Little Women has become a favorite of mine. It is a little longer than most books I like, so it’s unique in that. I love that it follows all four women into their adulthood, to see how four sisters can be so diverse.
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I think this is main reason I’ve never read the Twilight series, or the the Fifty Shades series. I have watched the Twilight movies, but I’ve never watched any of the Fifty Shades movies. So I guess the true answer is Fifty Shades, the rumors about it don’t help any either.
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I think this would apply to most of the Harlequin romance novels I have. They all seem similar to each other now that I’ve read several of them. Some of them are even a bit unbelievable with their plot lines, but I still like reading them anyway.
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This might be why I haven’t read the Game of Thrones series. Though this also why I haven’t continued The Wheel of Time series. I have quite a few of the books, but not the whole series, and it’s been so long since I have read the last book that I would have to reread from the beginning!
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Most recently it was Dark Promises by Christine Feehan, but the first one I’ve already mentioned was Into the Land of the Unicorns by Bruce Coville.
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Oh boy. Well, if I could it would be Lightfoot and Cara(Into the Land of the Unicorns), but I think they’re related somehow(?) so that would be weird. I also like the idea of Molly Grue and Schmendrick (The Last Unicorn) having a strong platonic relationship.
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This could be true of most the books I’ve read in the Dark series by Christine Feehan, and it could also be true of books I’ve read in the past in 2 days. But I think it would have to go to the very first Dark series book I read: Dark Guardian.
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Hands down. It’s so goofy and relateable and I have yet to meet a remake, spin-off, continuation, that I haven’t liked for some reason or another.
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The Second Sons trilogy was something that did come as a surprise to me. I’d never heard of the author or the books before I started reading them. Very soon I owned the whole trilogy and devoured each of the books.
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This is going to sound a little silly, but I have still yet to read the entire Harry Potter series. I think I’ve maybe read the first four books and none of the screenplays that have come afterwards. So…yeah.
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I really like the Barnes & Noble collectible classic editions they put out. I’m still waiting for another book sale to collect a few more. I’m always looking to add a few more to my collection.
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I really don’t follow new releases that closely, and have no idea even what debut novels are coming into the market. I’ve more books than I know what to do with right now so there’s no reason for me to look for new ones!
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I have quite a few of these now: Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Christine Feehan, and Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.
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This is probably the same answer from a previous question, but I don’t follow new book releases very well. The only one I really watch and it’s only kind of, is the Alphabet mysteries by Sue Grafton, and that’s only so I can get a new one for Mom’s birthday or Christmas.
And that’s that! All 15 questions answered to the best of my abilities. Please feel free to do this book tag yourself and link back in the comments so I can see your answers!
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March 2, 2019
Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan
Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another book in the Dark series from Christine Feehan, and yes I’m still going out of order. This one does tie in to several other books, but the one that sticks out for me is Dark Celebration, a book I read several years ago.
This one carries on with one of the couples that were mentioned in that book, Skyler and Dimitri. This series revolves around lifemates, and these two already know they are intended. But, Skyler is human, very young, and with a dark past that haunts her. Dimitri is stuck between two factions, the Lycans and the Carpathians, because he is both. The political atmosphere is murky, and there are traitors in their midst.
Some issues are resolved, and some issues are too big to be resolved in one book. The next book in the series, Dark Blood, seems to continue almost exactly where this one leaves off (she includes an excerpt) and I now want to read that one too!
February 27, 2019
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve actually read these out of order already. I think I read U is for Undertow(?), because this is my mom’s favorite series. It’s dated in the 1980’s, which she relates to, and I quite like, so there’s none of this new technology, but it’s not so far removed from modern times either.
This is obviously the first book in the alphabet mysteries as they do proceed in order from A to Z, though there is no Z yet. Anyway, introduction over.
This was a good book, I did like reading it. I love crime and mystery novels, and this is a good one, or else there wouldn’t be as many in the series. It ties in a cold case from Kinsey’s past, an innocent person accused of the recent crime, and a nice little plot twist. Very nice. It wasn’t entirely predictable, but Kinsey’s intuitions are pretty spot on. It’ll be fun to see what B brings.
February 23, 2019
Meet Me at the Library RETURNS
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Since I moved last year I lost regular access to the library I had been visiting, but now I’ve discovered the location of the library in my new location. Which brings the return of Meet Me at the Library!
As you can seen I am continuing the Dark series by Christine Feehan and starting a new series (one that my Mom appreciates and collects), Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series (or the Alphabet Mysteries?).
Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan
Skyler Daratrazanoff always recognized the miracle that was Dimitri Tirunul, a man beyond any dream that had ever engaged her nights. But she was human. Vulnerable. He was Carpathian. Nearly immortal. She was nineteen. He was an ancient. Yet she held half his soul, the light to his darkness. Without her, he would not survive. Caught between the two warring species, Dimitri has spent centuries hunting the undead to keep his people free, and humans safe. He had survived honorably when others had chosen to give up their souls. But now, marked for extermination by the Lycans, Dimitri found himself alone, and fearing for his life. But salvation was coming…
No Lycan would ever suspect someone like Skyler to dare mount a secret rescue operation. A teenage girl. A human of untested abilities. But she had something no one else had. She was predestined for Dimitri—as he was for her. And there was nothing stronger for Skyler than her desire to see her life-dream come true. Whatever the risk.
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
A IS FOR AVENGER
A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.
A IS FOR ACCUSED
That’s why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki’s bad name won’t be easy.
A IS FOR ALIBI
If there’s one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it’s playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer–and sharper–than she imagined.
Have you visited your local library lately? What have you been reading?
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February 20, 2019
4th of July by James Patterson
4th of July by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4th of July is the fourth installment in James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club book series. I have been reading these in order as I can find them.
I was a bit mad after the events of the third book in the series, but this book redeemed those actions somewhat. Lindsey Boxer (heroine) deals with a serial killer as well as the results of a deadly shoot out involving teenagers whose father has some influence. Its a relevant take on some things that have happened recently with the police force and the use of unreasonable force and police brutality.
It also brought a new member to the Women’s Murder Club, which I applaud, but hope it’s not a running theme to continually replace the members of the club (because that would be plot mechanic that would get old really quickly).
At any rate, I liked how the book caught us up on the lives of the characters in this series, it was an easy, enjoyable read.
February 16, 2019
The Ultimate Book Tag
This book tag comes to me from The Bibliophile Girl! It looked interesting with many different questions, so without further ado let’s get to the questions!
Do You Get Sick While Reading In The Car?
Not always, sometimes. It depends on how I’m reading the book. It’s hard to explain, it has something to do with whether or not I can see out the window.
Which Author’s Writing Style Is Completely Unique To You And Why?
Completely unique….hmm. That’s a hard one, I’ve read many different authors now and I’m not sure if any of them could be called unique. I do like how Stephen King can take a fairly ordinary situation and turn it into a horror novel.
Harry Potter or Twilight? Give 3 Reasons Why.
Harry Potter because 1) I’ve never read Twilight, 2) Disney World/Orlando Studios, and 3) dragons!
Do You Carry A Book Bag? If So, What’s In It (Besides Books)?
I carry a bag, in it is: my purse, my ereader, my tablet, my bullet journal/planner, cords/earbuds/etc, and whatever book I am reading/planning to read next.
Do You Smell Your Books?
Not as a rule. I have a best friend for that.
Books With or Without Illustrations?
It really doesn’t matter to me. Illustrations are cool if they help explain the scene and aren’t too graphic. If the illustrations don’t do anything for the story and are just there for show than I’ll pass.
What Book Did You Love While Reading, But Discovered Later It Wasn’t Quality Writing?
I used to have a Harlequin Romance subscription, you know the little books that take maybe a day to read and have a plot line that is predictable. Yeah I have a large collection of those.
Do You Have Any Funny Stories Involving Books From Your Childhood?
Not really? I read very selectively in my childhood so no.
What Is The Thinnest Book On Your Shelf?
Carrying on from the previous question: The Babysitter’s Little Sister books.
What Is the Thickest Book On Your Shelf?
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
Do You Write As Well As Read? Do You See Yourself Being An Author In the Future?
Yes, though I haven’t wrote anything in awhile, but I hope to get back to it this year. I do have some already published books over at Smashwords.
When Did You Get Into Reading?
My mother read bedtime stories from when I was super little. After I was old enough I’d read by myself the books my mother had read to us.
What Is Your Favorite Classic Book?
Little Women.
What Was Your Best Subject In School?
I really liked Art class and took every single one offered. Science and English were close seconds.
If You Were Given A Book As A Present That You Read Before And Hated, What Would You Do?
I buy my own books, and no one has given me books as a present for quite some years now. I would be polite and thank them for thinking of me, and then either store it away on a bookshelf never to be seen again, or give it to someone I know likes it.
What Is A Lesser Known Series That You Know Of That Is Similar to Harry Potter or the Hunger Games?
Second Sons by Jennifer Fallon
What Is A Bad Habit You Always Do (Besides Rambling) While Filming?
Forgetting things, not being prepared, procrastinating.
What Is Your Favorite Word?
Boisterous is a fun one. Gregarious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Are You A Nerd, Dork, or Dweeb?
I’m a nerd for reading a lot, but also a dork.
Vampires of Fairies? Why?
Vampires, never had much to do with fairies.
Shapeshifters or Angels? Why?
I’d much rather be a shapeshifter, angels just have too many rules to follow.
Spirits or Werewolves? Why?
Spirits as in ghosts? Um… I don’t know if I can choose then, because my work is definitely haunted maybe I’ll have to go with spirits.
Zombies or Vampires? Why?
Vampires again. I don’t like zombies, I read and watch way more vampire entertainment.
Love Triangles or Forbidden Love?
Definitely forbidden love, the kind you have to fight for.
Full on Romance Books Or Action-Packed With A Few Love Scenes?
Action packed with love scenes, full on romance books follow the same pattern so they seem all the same. You read one, you’ve read them all.
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My Books: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/leithex
My YouTube: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/leithex
My Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/authorsarah
