What are you reading or what books have you read or heard about? (Part TWELVE) Ongoing general thread. Showing 451-500 of 2,793

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "You are probably right. I can't remember. As I said it's entertaining and fresh premise. I think you'd like it. Takes place in NYC so should be familiar setting to you. And a bit in San Francisco."

Thanks, Nina!

[Nina]

Watched a depressing movie tonight. Good acting by Frank Sinatra but the movie was probably made during the Cold War for propaganda reasons. "The Manchurian Candidate," and I don't recommend it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I didn't see it, Nina. I doubt if I'd like it.
Here's the IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/?...
"A former prisoner of war is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy."

[Jim]

That was a great movie, but dark, twisted, & sad. Angela Landsbury played a really good villainess in the 60s version. I never watched the new one. It's based on a book by Richard Condon who also wrote the Prizzi series.

Prizzi's Honor was a great movie with Jack Nicholson & Kathleen Turner in the mid 80s. Charlie Partana (Nicholson) is an enforcer for the Prizzi family & is in a star-crossed relationship with Turner & Angelica Huston who plays Maerose, the granddaughter of the head of the Prizzi family. She's a Machiavellian chip off grandpa. The movie was very well done, followed the book closely, & might have even been better due to the fine actors.

[Nina]

Yes, Nicholson was really good in that movie. And I agree even if I didn't like "The Manchurian Candidate," I thought the acting was very good; Frank Sinatra and Angela Landsbury.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I don't think I never saw Prizzi's Honor but it's such a familiar title. Netflix doesn't offer it yet. So I doubt if I'll ever see it.

[Nina]

My son is just now watching "Downton Abby," and is intrigued by the Dowager's remarks. That Maggie is something else. Of coure the lines are good also.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Maggie Smith (who plays Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham) can sure deliver those smart lines!

[Nina]

I saw Maggie Smith in London in a play and she got a standing ovation.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "I saw Maggie Smith in London in a play and she got a standing ovation."

It's great that you saw her in person, Nina.

Tonight I attended a live performance of Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" at our local Wood Theater in Glens Falls. It was performed by our Glens Falls Community Theater group. They did a great job.
http://www.gfcommunitytheatre.org/

I've never seen the movie. So I've put it on my Netflix queue. It will be fun to compare the performances.
Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
Cast: Blythe Danner, Judith Ivey, Jonathan Silverman, Stacey Glick, Lisa Waltz
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090774/?...
"Eugene, a young teenage Jewish boy, recalls his memoirs of his time as an adolescent youth. He lives with his parents, his aunt, two cousins, and his brother, Stanley, whom he looks up to and admires. He goes through the hardships of puberty, sexual fantasy, and living the life of a poor boy in a crowded house."

http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Brighton...
"Gene Saks directs this film adaptation of Neil Simon's hit play, starring Jonathan Silverman as Eugene, a Jewish teenager sharing very cramped quarters with his loud, nosy and loving family in Depression-era Brooklyn. Both touching and laugh-out-loud funny, the film co-stars Blythe Danner and Bob Dishy as Eugene's parents, with Lisa Waltz as cousin Nora, the source of many of Eugene's adolescent fantasies and frustrations."

[Jim]

The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession by David Grann was an eclectic & interesting collection of about a dozen of his articles with some brief updates. Grann did a great job chronicling everything from trying to catch a baby giant squid on a shoe string budget to the biography of a thief. I gave it 5 stars in my review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession by David Grann was an eclectic & interesting collection of about a dozen of his articles with some ..."

Sounds like a good one, Jim. The description says it's "compulsively readable." Right now I'm swamped with good books to read. I'll never get to all of them!

[Nina]

my forty for dinner party for my husband's birthday is now over and it was a ton of work but everyone including the birthday "boy" had a good time and the bonus was that my two sons from out of town were here on mother's day together for the first time in probably since at least thirty years ago. Such an added blessing to the festivities and their two sisters who live here were also in on the fun.. Lots to be grateful for. Now back to real life/must read again"The Nightingale" so I can go to my book club and join the discussion.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "my forty for dinner party for my husband's birthday is now over and it was a ton of work but everyone including the birthday "boy" had a good time and the bonus was that my two sons from out of tow..."

Nina, I'm so glad you had such a wonderful family gathering for Mother's Day and your husband's birthday! Yes, lots to be grateful for.

I just finished watching "Bridge of Spies" and I want to thank you for recommending it. I put it on my Netflix queue as soon as you recommended it. And I'm so glad I did! Tom Hanks is always so unbelievably good and he surpassed himself in this heavy drama. I admire him so.

Steven Spielberg did a great job of directing. The choreography was superb... such dramatic scenes. Even the music was perfect for the film.

Mark Rylance was fantastic as the Russian spy. I had never heard of him before. He played the reticent spy effectively, didn't say much but his acting said it all. IMDb says: "He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Rudolf Abel in Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies." He deserved it!
His picture: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0753314/?r...

I wonder how closely the storyline followed the actual happenings.

"Bridge of Spies" (2015
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/?...
"During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers."

PS-It was interesting to learn the story behind the famous name, Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 spy plane pilot who was part of the prisoner exchange.

[Jim]

Sounds like a big blast, Nina. Congrats. It is nice to get the kids together. We rarely do, either.

[Nina]

Joy, glad you liked "Bridge of Spies," and the other one I recommended was, "The Intern." And it wasn't as good as the Bridge but I think you might enjoy seeing it. It was just one of those you can watch and let cares go elsewhere. I think it's Robert de Niro in that one and he's a good actor.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Yes, Nina, "The Intern" is second on my Netflix queue. First I'm anxious to see "Brighton Beach Memoirs" so I can compare it to the live performance I saw here in Glens Falls last Saturday.

I'm looking forward to "The Intern" too. I like Robert de Niro.

[Nina]

That should be quite interesting Joy/the comparison. I am pretty sure I saw that movie years ago. It was entertaining although hard for me to identify with the character sometimes.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "That should be quite interesting Joy/the comparison. I am pretty sure I saw that movie years ago. It was entertaining although hard for me to identify with the character sometimes."

RE: Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon

Nina, I identified with the two sisters who had an argument and then made up in the end. True to life.

The young son (Eugene) loved to write and kept writing down parts of conversations his family was having. I related with that! I love it when words are well said. Eugene's character was supposed to be loosely based on the life of Neil Simon, the author of the play. Wiki calls it a "semi-autobiographical" play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighto...

[Nina]

Just ordered, "My Life with Cary," by Dylan Cannon. Have you read that one Joy?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Just ordered, Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant by Dyan Cannon. Have you read that one Joy?"

I sure have, Nina. Here's my review (but perhaps you should read my review AFTER you read the book. My review may contain spoilers for you):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
You'll enjoy the book more if you don't know what I wrote about Cary Grant and Cannon.

[Jim]

I just finished listening to The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay by Harlan Ellison. This episode aired April 6, 1967 & has been voted the best original Star Trek episode ever. This audio version is kind of a nerd's paradise since it is a teleplay of an early script & has other revisions all read by a great cast along with essays by writers & actors. I saw the original TV episode when it aired & loved it. I've seen it a dozen times since then & own it, so I was very excited about this audio/teleplay edition which was funded through a KickStarter program in the fall of 2015 by Skyboat Media.

Unfortunately, Ellison & Roddenberry got into a fight about this episode & this is Ellison's side. The bias is tough to take & I had to knock stars off for it. Still, it was great to hear such a fine cast reading the teleplay. My 3 star review with details (a lot!) is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I just finished listening to The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay by Harlan Ellison. This episode aired April 6, 1967 & has been voted the best origina..."

Jim, thanks for the post re Ellison.

By coincidence I was recently looking up the following word:

ELISION (rhymes with vision)
So for a minute, I was confused. LOL (Doesn't take much to confuse me!) LOL

Here's the meaning of ELISION: http://www.wordsmyth.net/?ent=elision

And then again, there's the word ELLIPSIS. You're on your own there! LOL

[Jen]

Jim wrote: "I just finished The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It was great to have the whole thing read to me as an adult. I gave it 5 stars here:
https://www.goodreads.com/..."

I really need to read/listen to this book. I read it as a kid, but that was a *ahem* few years ago...

[Jim]

I know what you mean, Jenni. I've been trying to revisit some old favorites, mostly classics. I've been pleasantly entertained & occasionally floored by how much more there was to them than I recalled.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I really need to read/listen to this book. I read it as a kid, but that was a *ahem* few years ago..."

Hi Jenn - Yes, it seems a long time since we read books as a kid. Speaking of children's books, a couple of years ago I ordered the following book:

_The Children's Shakespeare_ by E. Nesbit (Author), Rolf Klep (Author), Edith Nesbit (Author) .
See it at: http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Shake...

I thought it would help me get a handle on Shakespeare's plays. I started reading it but I never finished it and couldn't remember what I had read. I could never keep the Shakespeare plays straight in my head with all the various characters. I wanted to but I just cannot do it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

The Children's Shakespeare

NOTE: To get the above result, I had to enter the ISBN # of the book. The title didn't work.

See my thread at the Librarian's Group: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Joy H., Group Founder]

The Children's Shakespeare

[Joy H., Group Founder]

NOTE: To get the above result, I had to enter the ISBN # of the book. The title didn't work.

See my thread at the Librarian's Group: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I am testing the "add book/author" feature.
See my thread at the Librarian's Group here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Nina]

Jim wondering if our weather is headed your way/almost record cold here/twenty degrees below normal for May/it will be 39 degrees tonight.

[Werner]

Joy, just now, when I tried searching for The Children's Shakespeare by title/author at the "add book/author" link above the comment box, it wouldn't come up for me either. I'm not sure what's going on with this.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Werner wrote: "Joy, just now, when I tried searching for The Children's Shakespeare by title/author at the "add book/author" link above the comment box, it wouldn't come up for me either. I'm not sure what's going on with this."

Werner, I'm glad you tried it too. The person at the Librarian's group told me to contact Goodread's Support.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Nina wrote: "Jim wondering if our weather is headed your way/almost record cold here/twenty degrees below normal for May/it will be 39 degrees tonight."

Bundle up, Nina!

[Werner]

Joy, my suggestion would be to post about the problem in the Goodreads Feedback group, and see what response you get. The Goodreads management monitors the Feedback group pretty closely, so glitches which are mentioned there usually get addressed pretty quickly.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Thanks for the suggestion, Werner. If I had time and energy, I'd try that but I'm so behind on everything right now that the problem has low priority with me. Sounds like the GR librarians don't care but I suppose they're swamped too.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

PS-Werner, the librarian person just posted a good explanation of the situation at my thread there. But I don't care anymore. :)

[Joy H., Group Founder]

PPS-Werner, it looks like they fixed the problem. Librarian Elizabeth posted the following:

"_The Children's Shakespeare_ now comes up as the 4th result on the add book/author page. I did have to add the author's last name for the search, which is often the case on GR search."

The Children's Shakespeare by E. Nesbit

[Werner]

Glad they were able to resolve it, Joy! (I'm a Goodreads librarian myself, but I'm not one of the more techno-adept ones. I usually confine my "librarianly" efforts to things like correcting typos or adding contributor's names to anthologies, and let the more knowledgeable members of the librarians group handle the complex problems. :-) )

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Werner wrote: "Glad they were able to resolve it, Joy! (I'm a Goodreads librarian myself, but I'm not one of the more techno-adept ones. I usually confine my "librarianly" efforts to things like correcting typos ..."

It sure was a mystery, Werner. I'm glad they figured it out.

I'm sure you do your share of librarian's work. I know you're very conscientious about every thing you do.

[Jim]

Nina wrote: "Jim wondering if our weather is headed your way/almost record cold here/twenty degrees below normal for May/it will be 39 degrees tonight."

It's 40 right now, so yes. Brrr! It's supposed to warm up, though.

[Werner]

Joy, thanks for the kind words!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "It's 40 right now, so yes. Brrr! It's supposed to warm up, though."

It's a little over 50 degrees today. We've been having mild weather lately and I say: IT'S ABOUT TIME! :)

You're welcome, Werner!

[Nina]

Joy it has been in the 80's here so the cold weather doesn't sit right with my old bones.

[Jim]

This Is NPR: The First Forty Years was very good, but way too short. They just did a handful of stories from each decade. They could have done several times that without losing me. I gave it 4 stars in my review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nina]

I agree with Joy, Werner I am certain with your dedication to books and writing reviews that are absorbing even if I don't want to read the book, you are a first class librarian.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "This Is NPR: The First Forty Years was very good, but way too short. They just did a handful of stories from each decade. They could have done several times that without losing me. I..."

Jim, thanks for telling us about that. I will definitely see if I can get it. I assume it's an audio CD?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

PS-It looks like our public library has only an electronic book of "This is NPR...". I tried one of those electronic books once and found it too difficult to use.

[Jim]

I don't get CD's, Joy. I download mp3 files.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jim wrote: "I don't get CD's, Joy. I download mp3 files."

Jim, you're lucky that you know how to do those things. The word "download" strikes fear in my heart! I always have trouble doing anything like that.