Last Summer Read/ or Movie
#1
Apology up front:

This probably does not warrant it's own Topic. I "used up" a topic because this involves a current movie that won't be around too long and so...

I stumbled upon a Dennis LeHanne book a couple of weeks ago that I thought was worth mentioning for those who like a bit of "mind candy". I've been a Dennis LeHanne fan since "Mystic River". This one, is a bit different . "The Drop, only 224 pages it is very tight and well developed. I thought it was a really good read.

And, it's now a movie, playing locally (In Medford at Tinseltown). I'm not sure I even want to see the movie, but may because LeHanne wrote the screenplay also and it should follow the plot well. (The book is set in Boston, LeHanne's home ground, but for some reason the movie is set in Brooklyn. And it was the last film James Gandolfini did)

PS: Another favorite author of "mind candy", Michael Connelly, also has a new book out also titled "The Drop". These guys should stay in touch.
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#2
I have not seen the movie, but it is on my list to see! Our daughter and son-in-law saw "Lucy" last night. Her words were: "Mind Blown! I loved it!"

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#3
(09-21-2014, 10:58 AM)Scrapper Wrote: I have not seen the movie, but it is on my list to see! Our daughter and son-in-law saw "Lucy" last night. Her words were: "Mind Blown! I loved it!"


Scrapper, I checked the movie times after and posted that and the "The Drop" has left already. Might say something about the film. (Still, I liked the book). I'll catch it on NetFlix.

I'm curious about "Lucy" and might go see it. The reviews have been mixed, but it sounds like fun. And fun at the movies, is worth the price of the ticket.
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#4
I haven't read a book or gone to a movie in years. No time. Or money.
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#5
(09-21-2014, 02:55 PM)bbqboy Wrote: I haven't read a book or gone to a movie in years. No time. Or money.

The library is free. (If you can get there).
Used books are a real bargain.
Life without reading is ....I dunno, but not good.
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#6
I read stuff all the time. Just not books. And I've been a used book dealer for years. Cookbooks especially. Life is short to fantasize about others experiences.
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#7
(09-21-2014, 05:48 PM)bbqboy Wrote: I read stuff all the time. Just not books. And I've been a used book dealer for years. Cookbooks especially. Life is short to fantasize about others experiences.

That's an unbelievable way to think about books. IF I understood you. I haven't read a book in years but recently because of illness I found myself stuck in a chair for three hours or more.
So I grabbed a book and read it for a couple of hours. It was science fiction, Dean Koontz.
It seemed like the guy took FOREVER to get to the point. I think I'm too damn impatient to READ.

I don't want to spend five minutes or more reading about the rain on the window, the way rivulets roll and the wind making a noise that's like this or that while the tree did whatever and on and on....

With a video I can fast forward through all that CRAP. I can actually see with my own eyes.. Isn't that what eyes are for?Razz
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#8
(09-21-2014, 03:54 PM)Wonky3 Wrote:
(09-21-2014, 02:55 PM)bbqboy Wrote: I haven't read a book or gone to a movie in years. No time. Or money.

The library is free. (If you can get there).
Used books are a real bargain.
Life without reading is ....I dunno, but not good.

Lately the Rogue Valley Book Exchange has actually had decent books. I like non fiction. There's been a plethora of good stuff. More than I can read actually, because even though I'm a lifelong reader, I am a slow reader.
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#9
Great resource for very inexpensive used books, online, from all over the country (free shipping):
Thriftbooks.com
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#10
(09-21-2014, 07:24 PM)Big Rock Wrote: Great resource for very inexpensive used books, online, from all over the country (free shipping):
Thriftbooks.com

Thanks. Good info. I have used Powell's in Portland for years (before the Net) and like their site, but Ill check Thrift Books.

Tia, I too read a lot of nonfiction, but I'd be less of aware of some important stuff had I not read fiction. 'The Human Stain", To Kill a Mockingbird, "The Accidental Tourist","Tale of Two Cites", "Harvest", just a few off the top of my head.

And I've read some lousy nonfiction, poorly written and badly organized. For instance I thought "The World is Flat", Tom Friedman, was stating the obvious, and not doing it all that well at that. (And a best seller, proving in my mind at least, that best seller lists don't mean much)

But, I'm guilty of reading the back of cereal boxes of nothing else is handy. The one habit I'm happy to have let develop.

TVg, hang in there and read all the author has to say. Or, give it a couple of chapters and if it does not grab you, give it up. The author sweated blood for each and every word there. Or if not, it is not worth the read.

BBQ, one's life can be enhanced beyond measure by reading more than just cookbooks.Vicarious learning can be very valuable.

And then there is "mind candy". I need a certain amount of it. Detective stories, a thriller from time to time, and satire when done well. It detracts me from the real world for a day or two and I come away somehow refreshed, my mind ready for heavier stuff.

And I use an electronic reader. I don't defend them, or even recommend them. For me they work (I happen to have the Nook, from B&N, but hear the Kindle is better). I've been known to buy a nonfiction read for the reader and later buy the hardbound copy for my bookshelf. (I recently did this with "The Unwinding", a read I would highly recommend.

I'd suggest www.goodreads.com for anyone who wants to extend their reading list.

But, I'm not all that well read, and these are opinions I offer up just as a chat thing, this being the place to do that kind of thing. I hope.
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#11
(09-21-2014, 09:44 PM)Wonky3 Wrote:
(09-21-2014, 07:24 PM)Big Rock Wrote: Great resource for very inexpensive used books, online, from all over the country (free shipping):
Thriftbooks.com

Thanks. Good info. I have used Powell's in Portland for years (before the Net) and like their site, but Ill check Thrift Books.

Tia, I too read a lot of nonfiction, but I'd be less of aware of some important stuff had I not read fiction. 'The Human Stain", To Kill a Mockingbird, "The Accidental Tourist","Tale of Two Cites", "Harvest", just a few off the top of my head.

And I've read some lousy nonfiction, poorly written and badly organized. For instance I thought "The World is Flat", Tom Friedman, was stating the obvious, and not doing it all that well at that. (And a best seller, proving in my mind at least, that best seller lists don't mean much)

But, I'm guilty of reading the back of cereal boxes of nothing else is handy. The one habit I'm happy to have let develop.

TVg, hang in there and read all the author has to say. Or, give it a couple of chapters and if it does not grab you, give it up. The author sweated blood for each and every word there. Or if not, it is not worth the read.

BBQ, one's life can be enhanced beyond measure by reading more than just cookbooks.Vicarious learning can be very valuable.

And then there is "mind candy". I need a certain amount of it. Detective stories, a thriller from time to time, and satire when done well. It detracts me from the real world for a day or two and I come away somehow refreshed, my mind ready for heavier stuff.

And I use an electronic reader. I don't defend them, or even recommend them. For me they work (I happen to have the Nook, from B&N, but hear the Kindle is better). I've been known to buy a nonfiction read for the reader and later buy the hardbound copy for my bookshelf. (I recently did this with "The Unwinding", a read I would highly recommend.

I'd suggest www.goodreads.com for anyone who wants to extend their reading list.

But, I'm not all that well read, and these are opinions I offer up just as a chat thing, this being the place to do that kind of thing. I hope.


My Boss likes to tell me he has read LotR (Lord of the Rings) more than 10 times. I've got him beat. I read that a LOT back in the day. Right now I've got 4 different books going on. 1491. A book about children of Holocaust survivors, a book about drinking in pubs in Ireland and a parody of US history. Most of them are located in different places. The car. The porch, the armchair....so wherever I am at, that's what I read. Takes forever that way.Laughing
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#12
(09-22-2014, 08:32 PM)Tiamat Wrote:
(09-21-2014, 09:44 PM)Wonky3 Wrote:
(09-21-2014, 07:24 PM)Big Rock Wrote: Great resource for very inexpensive used books, online, from all over the country (free shipping):
Thriftbooks.com

Thanks. Good info. I have used Powell's in Portland for years (before the Net) and like their site, but Ill check Thrift Books.

Tia, I too read a lot of nonfiction, but I'd be less of aware of some important stuff had I not read fiction. 'The Human Stain", To Kill a Mockingbird, "The Accidental Tourist","Tale of Two Cites", "Harvest", just a few off the top of my head.

And I've read some lousy nonfiction, poorly written and badly organized. For instance I thought "The World is Flat", Tom Friedman, was stating the obvious, and not doing it all that well at that. (And a best seller, proving in my mind at least, that best seller lists don't mean much)

But, I'm guilty of reading the back of cereal boxes of nothing else is handy. The one habit I'm happy to have let develop.

TVg, hang in there and read all the author has to say. Or, give it a couple of chapters and if it does not grab you, give it up. The author sweated blood for each and every word there. Or if not, it is not worth the read.

BBQ, one's life can be enhanced beyond measure by reading more than just cookbooks.Vicarious learning can be very valuable.

And then there is "mind candy". I need a certain amount of it. Detective stories, a thriller from time to time, and satire when done well. It detracts me from the real world for a day or two and I come away somehow refreshed, my mind ready for heavier stuff.

And I use an electronic reader. I don't defend them, or even recommend them. For me they work (I happen to have the Nook, from B&N, but hear the Kindle is better). I've been known to buy a nonfiction read for the reader and later buy the hardbound copy for my bookshelf. (I recently did this with "The Unwinding", a read I would highly recommend.

I'd suggest www.goodreads.com for anyone who wants to extend their reading list.

But, I'm not all that well read, and these are opinions I offer up just as a chat thing, this being the place to do that kind of thing. I hope.


My Boss likes to tell me he has read LotR (Lord of the Rings) more than 10 times. I've got him beat. I read that a LOT back in the day. Right now I've got 4 different books going on. 1491. A book about children of Holocaust survivors, a book about drinking in pubs in Ireland and a parody of US history. Most of them are located in different places. The car. The porch, the armchair....so wherever I am at, that's what I read. Takes forever that way.Laughing

I too am guilty of jumping between reads. Never more than four, but I suspect it's not the best way to remember detail about what we have read. Occasionally I get really hooked on a plot and neglect almost everything else (like hygiene, healthful food) and tear through the story. I had that experience with "Gone Girl"...a tacky story that is pure mind candy, but it hooked me totally. (The movie due soon).

About reading things multiple times: I simply don't understand that. I have reread things, but always some years later. Or, once in a great while I will reread something (like history) that I skimmed too fast and want to go back to make notes so that I "see it" more clearly. I did that with "Team of Rivals".

And since it's the first day of autumn and time for "serious reading", I'd like to once more suggest a nonfiction read I really enjoyed. "The Unwinding". George Packer looks at the period from about the mid 70's to present and with real skill uses personal stories to illustrate the changes we have gone through. I swear, it reads like a novel.
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#13
I lived it. Why do I need to be told about it?
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#14
(09-23-2014, 08:42 AM)bbqboy Wrote: I lived it. Why do I need to be told about it?

You don't, making the remark unnecessary.

But while we all have personal experiences we know to be valuable, being exposed to the lives of others broadens our view and makes us more completely aware of circumstances around us.

Still, your point is clear: This is not mandatory, and I "suggested" it, I din't assign it.
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#15
It's just interesting how think others fill their time, or should fill their time.
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#16
(09-23-2014, 10:21 AM)bbqboy Wrote: It's just interesting how think others fill their time, or should fill their time.

How true! And the "Should" thing is something we would do well to all avoid. Having said that, as citizens we are tasked with some knowledge of the world around us and what influences are effecting our lives. Very often, reading is how we acquire this necessary knowledge.

I mean, that's How Sarah Palin become so aware of the world around her. Only she knew that the Queen of England was the head of government in the British Isle. Wink
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#17
I consume and take in lots of information. I just don't read books or go to movies anymore. And I believe you mean "affecting". So you're right about the spelling thing. :-)
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#18
(09-23-2014, 07:00 PM)bbqboy Wrote: I consume and take in lots of information. I just don't read books or go to movies anymore.:-)

Well, however you are doing it keep on doing it if it works for you.

PS: Some of your cousins in Kansas are having a political fight for the U.S. Senate that (some feel) may determine who runs the senate. Strange, because the Democrat pulled out of the race hoping the Independent would get his votes and beat the Republican.

They take their politics seriously in Kansas. Where is Bob Dole when we need him?
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#19
Virginia, I believe...or maybe North Carolina.
BTW, Thomas Frank just wrote a good summary of the situation back there in some
Rag.
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#20
(09-23-2014, 07:16 PM)bbqboy Wrote: Virginia, I believe...or maybe North Carolina.
BTW, Thomas Frank just wrote a good summary of the situation back there in some
Rag.

No, Kansas.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Sarah Palin and other high-profile Republicans are coming to Kansas this week to boost Sen. Pat Roberts’ chances of re-election in an unexpectedly crucial race for the GOP, while a well-funded television ad began airing Tuesday targeting his opponent.
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