11 - A Book About or Set In Hollywood

[Astrid]

Britany wrote: "Astrid wrote: "For those who have read Anon Pls. (Deuxmoi), does it fit the prompt? I know that it's about celebrity gossip and pop culture, but not sure whether it is actually talking about Hollyw..."

LOL same... Do you think it will fit the prompt? I would love to include Deuxmoi in my challenge :D

[Mony]

One of these, I think

- Gable & Lombard: A Biography by Warren G. Harris
- The Monday Girl by Julie Johnson

[Diana]

For the YA readers, I think The Princess and the Fangirl and Everything Leads to You would work. For more adult romance readers, there's Something to Talk About.

There's also Ray Bradbury's A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities, Carrie Fisher's Postcards from the Edge and Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. I didn't even realize the movie was based on a book.

For non-fiction readers there's: From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy, Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood, Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood, and The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies

[Ron]

Nice, Diana. I've read From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy . This one was fun.

[Rosalind]

think this might be one of the easiest prompts for me as I have so many film studies books. I'm definitely going to check out From Hollywood with Love - that looks great.

One I particularly enjoyed recently is Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood

[Diana]

Ron, that's good to know. It's near the top of my list to check out.

Rosalind, I haven't heard of that one!

I also forgot I had this one bookmarked too: Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema

[Rachael]

I'm going for what might be a slight cheat with Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind. I'm sure Hollywood will be mentioned

[Ron]

So I was going to go with Women vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film but then another caught my eye which has been on my shelf for a while:

Picturing Indians: Native Americans in Film, 1941–1960

******

This will be even better since I'm aiming to get in a lot of Indigenous topics for the prompts (I'm at 15 give or take so far).

[Kelly]

Hey all, someone added Permanent Record by Mary HK Choi to the listopia, but from what I can tell, it takes place in Brooklyn - can anyone confirm if Hollywood is at all a setting in this book?

Looking for fiction books set in Hollywood for this prompt, preferably by BIPOC authors, figured I could find a chick-lit-ish book that fits this but I'm having a hard time!!

[Rachael]

Kelly wrote: "Hey all, someone added Permanent Record by Mary HK Choi to the listopia, but from what I can tell, it takes place in Brooklyn - can anyone confirm if Hollywood is at all a setting in this book?

Lo..."

Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett should work - she has a few with Hollywood in the title

[Lyn]

I'll be re-reading Movie Shoes

[Jamie]

Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess by Danny Sugerman (who was the manager for The Doors and Iggy Pop in the 70s) is one of my favorite books of all time and takes place partially in Hollywood. The first part of the book is about his childhood elsewhere in Los Angeles County, but the house on Wonderland Avenue is in Hollywood and is a huge part of the book.

If you like The Doors and/or sex/drugs/rock n' roll memoirs it's a great read. I plan to reread it for the "book you wish you could read for the first time again" prompt.

[Kelly]

Rachael wrote: "Kelly wrote: "Hey all, someone added Permanent Record by Mary HK Choi to the listopia, but from what I can tell, it takes place in Brooklyn - can anyone confirm if Hollywood is at all a setting in ..."

yessss thank you!!! that's exactly what i'm looking for!!!!!

[Ellie]

It looks like Tom Hanks has written a novel about making a movie The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. He's had someone draw the comics that his fictional film is based on and included them in the book apparently.

I did see another book coming out later this year called The Last Action Heroes, about the rise and fall of muscle men in Hollywood and I have often wondered about that weird period of cinema where they cast overly-muscled men in any film they could. So I might keep an eye out for that on audio.

[Kim]

Nadine in NY wrote: "A book about or set in Hollywood.

What does it mean to be "set in Hollywood"? Does it have to be about the movies, or is any book in the Los Angeles area acceptable? Does The Guncle

Right off the bat, I see a book on the Listopia list that is set in the film industry in MEXICO CITY! Not Hollywood, at all. Silver Nitrate (Silver Nitrate, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia). I'm going to be reading it for one of my other challenges (GirlXOXO Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge has "Silver" as one of their keywords).

[Kim]

I think the best book for this prompt would be The Day of the Locust, but having read that, I may go with The Women of David Lynch, because I'm obsessed with The Lady in the Radiator! She reminds me so much of my friend's little white Bichon Frise.

[Dea]

I was kind of torn on this one, but then I remembered I hadn't read the last Maggie Hope mystery: The Hollywood Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal.

[Maria]

Would Finding Dorothy work for this one? It goes back an forth between Maud and Frank Baum's life in NY and other places, and then to the filming of The Wizard of Oz at MGM studios. I'm reading it now and I thought it would fit but the hollywood chapters are so short compared to the historical chapters, I worry that its not enough Hollywood!

[Joanna G]

I think it's up to you - there's no judges or hard line rules here!

If you're reading it already, you can always fill it in but come back to it later and read another one if you aren't satisfied.

[Khalisti]

Would Helter-skelter: the true story of the manson murders work for this one?

[Emerson]

Joanna wrote: "Does anyone know where The Princess Bride was filmed? I have As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, which I figure fits thematically, but it would a..."

Wonderful book! It mostly takes place in the UK and Europe. If you count movie making as Hollywood, you can count it. Personally, I'd put it under celebrity memoir.

[Agatha]

Built to Last was about child actors all grown up and making a reality home renovation show (and falling in love) and it was delightful.

[Dubhease]

I read Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology

[Ron]

I've officially started Women vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film .

This one I'm reading the physical hard copy (I want to get the paperback at some point) and I'm listening to the audiobook since the audio one is for another book challenge I'm doing.

So far I'm on chapter 2 but the history of it is fascinating.

[Anshita]

I am reading The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West for this prompt. I initially wanted to read Siren Queen but I settled on this instead.

[Diana]

I was poking around and found this new release which would be perfect to read during Black History Month: The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar. The author, Robin R. Means Coleman, actually looks to have a few books on this theme that look really interesting.

[Regan]

How much of the book has to be set in Hollywood to count?
Plain Bad Heroines starts there, but it doesn't stay very long, and if I recall correctly the same could be said for The Charm Offensive

[Diana]

I just stumbled across this one at my local library: City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s

[Coleen]

Parts of Sunflower Sisters are set in Hollywood, MD. Prompt doesn't specify Hollywood, CA!

[Ron]

Even though I already did my Hollywood prompt, I'll still be reading another:

The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood

[Joanna]

Zibby recently posted a list of books set in Hollywood, including some that are coming out soon: https://zibbymag.com/blog/hollywood-r...

[Lilith]

I went really old school with this prompt, and read The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. It's set in 1940's Hollywood, and gets into the politics of studios and screenwriters.
Best of all, a pet funeral home features heavily(!). My dream job after any animal rescue and animal health work.

My first venture into Waugh satire, and yep, we monetize everything.

This would work for the love triangle prompt too.

[LeahS]

I read Hollywood Wants to Kill You by Michael Brooks Rick Edwards, a scientific look at the various disasters envisaged in Hollywood movies. Yes, it is much more a science book than a film book, but it does discuss the films, while providing some very interesting (and worrying) facts. For a book about ways to die, it's also quite funny.

[Britany]

Finished The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nadine in NY]

Lilith wrote: "I went really old school with this prompt, and read The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. It's set in 1940's Hollywood, and gets into the politics of studios and screenwriters...."


I read that when I was young ("young" meaning in my teens) - I don't remember how I stumbled upon it - I think I was too young to really understand it, it confused me and kind of weirded me out.

[Heather L]

I used The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler for this one, a gritty noir mystery. Liked it, wanting to see the movie again now.

[Lilith]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Lilith wrote: "I went really old school with this prompt, and read The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. It's set in 1940's Hollywood, and gets into the politics of studios and..."

It is a little dark and odd, but I loved the pet cemetery being prominently featured. I liked it - I didn't love it, but I liked it. Had I read it in the 1940s - had I been alive - I might have appreciated the satire more.

[Marianne]

I just finished the audiobook of Demi Moore’s memoir Inside Out. I wasn’t reading it with this in mind (it was great; she narrated) but do you think that would count? It starts off with her childhood but ends up in Hollywood. She had a much more interesting retesting life than I knew.

[Jessica]

I am planning to read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

[Teri]

I'm currently reading The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and Clint Howard. It's very entertaining so far!

[Nadine in NY]

Marianne wrote: "I just finished the audiobook of Demi Moore’s memoir Inside Out. I wasn’t reading it with this in mind (it was great; she narrated) but do you think that would count? It starts off with her childho..."


Sure! sounds like part of it takes place in Hollywood, so I'd count it

[Katy]

I'm going with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for this prompt!

[Heather L]

An article/list of suggestions for those who may still be searching for a book that fits this prompt:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/th...

[Laura Ruth]

I have Radiance by Catherynne Valente sitting on my shelf, but I also want to read Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood.

[Kim]

I was inspired by a chat with the author, in one of my Facebook groups, Lost LA, to read his book, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, by Steve Hodel. The murders (the killer was his father, and he and a friend, killed more than just Elizabeth Short), most likely took place in a Lloyd Wright house, just a block away from my own apartment (only 35 years earlier). The book takes place mostly in Hollywood, and Downtown LA, where George Hodel had an office. The book absolutely convinced me that he did the killings. The author was an LAPD Detective, who didn’t suspect his father until after his death. The evidence is compelling!

[Ron]

Laura wrote: I also want to read Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood

I currently have this one on my tbr cart. Don't know when I'll get to it, but I do want to at some point.

[Sherri]

I read Mercury Pictures Presents. 3 stars

[Laura]

I just finished The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman for this prompt. It is a suspense novel written by a British actress about a British actress. The story was good and the inside look at the acting profession was fascinating.

[Jennifer]

I recently read There’s No Coming Back From This by Ann Garvin, which takes place on the backlot of Universal Studios. I loved reading about the behind-the-scenes world of Hollywood, especially the costuming department. The story is fun and very relatable. If you ever wondered what it would be like to be dropped into a film set, this is the book for you.

[Lisa Marie]

I read Falling for Rome by Gillian Archer