Monday Mash Up

 

Monday, August 14, 2023 ~ Books & More...

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THOUGHTS

Lovely day at the lake this week. Perfect weather for sitting by the lakeside and watching the grand-nephews horse around, swim, waterski and enjoy a campfire lunch -- hot dogs and s'mores.

DD1 spent a few nights with us after oral surgery. She is on a liquid diet for the week, so we had fun coming up with blender meals and smoothies (nectarine smoothies were the winner). Friday night, she announced that we should serve gazpacho and grilled cheese sandwiches for family dinner on Sunday. So I found my recipe for gazpacho and we peeled and chopped and blended our way to the perfect soup for a hot summer meal. Unfortunately, I can't eat peppers, garlic or raw onions, so I never even taste-tested the gorgeous soup I helped prepare. DD2 and I had a puree of yellow vegetables soup instead of the gazpacho; we used it to dip our grilled cheese sandwiches. It was heavenly, even if it was hot. I didn't have time to take pictures of everything but I did manage to grab a shot of the caprese salad that we served along with the rest of the meal.

OUGHTTOBIOGRAPHY

I ought to be organized!

100 DAYS OF SUMMER

I'd have more points to show for my efforts if only the damned die rolled in my favor more often.

60. Book set in, or written by an author born in, North America.
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
Pts: 12 RT: 361 Avg: 7.37

46. Book set in a coastal location.
Six Easy Pieces by Walter Mosley
Pts: 1 RT: 362 Avg: 7.24

55. Book with a main character who identifies as LGBTQ.
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain
Pts: 7 RT: 369 Avg: 7.24

52. Book set in, or written by an author born in, Europe.
Maigret in New York by Georges Simenon
Pts: 5 RT: 374 Avg: 7.19

 

THE BOOKS

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (read by the author et al.)

I read this book because I had already read Hanks's Uncommon Type and was impressed with his writing and his imagination. Otherwise, I would have just walked on by. Hanks is, without a doubt, a storyteller, a raconteur par excellence, and I was happy to spend a couple of days listening to him spin his tales. This is not a Hollywood tell-all and except for a couple characters this is not about Hollywood sleaze.
4 stars

Six Easy Pieces by Walter Mosley

My fascination with WM continues with these six interconnected short stories featuring Mosley's most famous creation, Easy Rawlins. Delightful!! Went by all too quickly.
4 stars

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain

It was one of those "you might also like" titles that pops up on Audible when you are looking at other titles. Sometimes I do take the time to see what they are suggesting and this one looked interesting. I usually avoid sad stories and all too often will abandon them quickly if I do start one. I'm glad I stuck with this one. It is a sad story but it is also the very true story of what many gay young men and women faced in the 1960s when homosexual relationships were illegal in most countries around the world -- people I knew and had grown up with. It is a bittersweet story but heartwarming, a reminder of how far we have come in the half century -- and how far we have yet to go.
3.75 stars

Maigret in New York by Georges Simenon

Another Agatha Christie Centenary Read Side-read. Well, kind of. The book we chose to read was Cecile is Dead but I'm going further and reading other Maigret stories that were written in the 1940. This is one of a number of stories that are set in the US, though for this story, it could have been set anywhere. It is a wild goose chase that turns out to be a little more wild than Maigret expected. I'm finding I like his earlier stories better.
3 stars