Paul’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2014)

Paul’s comments from the Collegedale Public Library group.

I used that book for the Friends category too. Reminded me of the series "Halt and Catch Fire" that aired a few years ago.

My goal is to sweep the board. Anyone have any recs for the food category?

Did a good old fashioned juking of the stats by including a book club book in one of the categories: "The Bookseller" for place wanting to visit -- Gay Paree.

I'm reading "The Midnight Library" for the NYT option. As someone who had a horrible 2022 and often focuses on the sliding doors "what ifs?" of life, it's a book I probably need right now.

I read Tayari Jones' 1st book "Leaving Atlanta." As a coming of age story set against the backdrop of the Atlanta child murders, it had it all! All of the characters should have heeded the title's advice.

I just finished the cat eating eyeballs book. It had some helpful body disposal tips.

I just finished Rebel: My Life Outside the Lines, an autobiography of People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1992: Nick Nolte!

I laughed a lot, especially when he wrote that he was drunk during the filming of his first movie to bring "authenticity" to the character. Katharine Hepburn admonishing Nolte for showing up hungover during their film was another delight. The only downsides were the lack of "Extreme Prejudice" nuggets (in my opinion, peak Nolte) and the opening line about an...unsettling cosmetic surgery he undertook in the '90s.

This month's category is a book written by someone your admire.

I just finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, an account of Hunter S. Thompson's drug-fueled coverage of a motorcycle race and police conference on marijuana in early '70s Las Vegas. Dude was completely baked the whole time!

I read The Line Becomes A River, which is an autobiography of a former border patrol agent. The ending felt a bit cliche, like an INSPIRING movie on Lifetime, but since it was a true story I can't fault it too much.

I read An American Marriage for May. I liked the different perspectives presented when an innocent black man is railroaded for a crime he didn't commit, and the author presents the husband and wife as equally empathetic characters, but the wife did something about halfway through the book that really made me think less of her. Although maybe we were supposed to see the flaws in each character and how unfortunate situations can bring out the worst in people. Doesn't bring down the book's quality, however.

I've been in kind of a rut with crime books lately, probably because I keep reading the same authors over and over again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySrwm...

So I'm glad I decided to readShe Rides Shotgun for my debut book. It reminded me of the movie "Logan," except for the fact that the movie's child character is a feral killer who calms down, while this story is the opposite.

I read Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, where the author emigrates to Austria following the Iranian Revolution only to return to Iran in the late '80s after the complete fall of Imperial Iran. So it was like two immigrant experiences for the price of one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxU2e...

I read The Night Bookmobile per Malissa's recommendation. It had an interesting and unique concept, but I have to admit that even though I mostly like my job, having to do it in the afterlife seems like a special kind of hell.

August:

1. JUVENILE BOOK SET IN THE SOUTH: The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (Collection of ghost series set in the South. Probably good for kids, but a little dull for desensitized horror fans.)

2. NOVEL SET DURING WARTIME: Johnny Got His Gun (I can see why this was such an effective anti-war book. It's told from the perspective of a mutilated World War I soldier as he reflects on his life in a hospital bed, intertwined with disturbing body horror elements.)

July

SOUTHERN GOTHIC: The Devil All the Time (A little disturbed that this was recommended to be, but it was a wise one.)

FIRST BOOK IN A SERIES: The Late Show (New cop series from Connelly featuring a laaaaady protagonist makes me think the Bosch series may be nearing its end.)

Been thinking about waiting till the end of the month to make my choices, but I think I'm done for June.

BOOK SET IN THE SOUTH: The Whistler (Florida is questionable in its Southern credentials, but since a good portion takes place in the panhandle (aka the Redneck Riviera), it should count. Corrupt judges and Indians lead to predictable results.)

MAIN CHARACTER AS DIFFERENT RACE: Black Betty (Easy Rawlins continues navigating post war Los Angeles as a black detective. I like Rawlins because he's fairly amoral, but has little choice given his circumstances. It's sad we didn't get more movies with Denzel as Easy ["Devil with a Blue Dress" is on point.])

I was originally going to use "The Spy Who Loved Me" by Ian Fleming as UNRELIABLE NARRATOR, because noted feminist Ian Fleming writing from a woman's perspective should bring lulz, but it was unreadable. This category continues to elude me!

Finished for the month, though... I may (ha ha...ugh) read the last 2 books in the Lewis trilogy:

BOOK WITH A MAIN CHARACTER WHO IS THE SAME AGE AS YOU: (The Killer Inside Me I was going to make this my unreliable narrator choice, but discovered the psychotic, redneck sheriff was my exact age (29), though not for long. Of all the depraved psycho characters I've read, Sheriff Lou Ford is certainly the most polite.)

BOOK SET DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE SOUTH (March: Book One (Excellent graphic novel biography of Civil Rights hero John Lewis. Although someone recently described him as a man of 'All talk, talk, talk — no action or results,' this book clearly undermines that mendacity.)

AUDIOBOOK: The Hunter (Re-read for book club. I'm not sure how the real Parker sounds, but I never imagined him as a syphilitic Clint Eastwood. Blech! This is why I prefer reading books.)

SOUTHERN FEMALE AUTHOR: Silver Sparrow (Originally read for the Chattanooga Big Read event I was too lazy to attend, but worth it. It's a good representation of the jealousies and insecurities of a girl caught in the crossfires of a bigamist father. Nice depressing but upbeat closing lines as well!

"People say, That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But they are wrong. What doesn't kill you doesn't kill you. That's all you get. Sometimes, you just have to hope that's enough.")

We're thinking a book set in modern times (past 20 years or so) set in the South and written by a Southern author.

Changing categories and putting "Hound of the Baskervilles" as book mentioned in another book for March, freeing the one year category from "Profiles in Courage" to a subsequent title.