Read, Watch, Listen ...... October and November in Review

What I Was Reading in October and November

Expletive Deleted a good look at bad language by Ruth Wajnryb
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Stitch 'N Bitch by Debbie Stoller







Juvenile/Young Adult books
Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Siberia by Ann Halem
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

For October our book club selection was a Jasper Fforde novel of our choice. I had read The Eyre Affair ages ago and started Lost in a Good Book but never finished it... Just for fun, I started over and read the first three novels featuring Thursday Next. I think they are delightful. The author's website is cool too. Our November selection was Gilead. I managed to get about halfway through the book. I'm still reading... I do like it, but it's slow going. The young adult books were mostly ones I read aloud at school or in order to recommend them to students. The Expletive Deleted is a book for another book group that doesn't meet again until December 15, so I'll likely finish that a bit closer to the date. It's f*cking great!

What I Was Watching in October and November

Rented
Beauty Shop
Kicking and Screaming
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
A Clockwork Orange
Bob Dylan No Direction Home
Will and Grace Season Two
The Wedding Date
The Perfect Man
Happy Endings
Millions
Melinda and Melinda
Me and You and Everyone We Know

Theatre
Elizabethtown
RENT

My first week of October was filled with movie rentals and then I got a copy of the Bob Dylan documentary (which I loved) but never managed to find time to watch. Weeks slipped by and other than occasional episodes of That 70's Show, Seinfeld and NFL football games, I found myself simply not even bothering with the TV. Then Hollywood Video sent out their 99 cent coupons and by some miracle I got my hands on 6 of them... Ahhh... Thanksgiving weekend was movie madness! I watched a lot of mediocre movies.... and I expected more from the Woody Allen film Melinda and Melinda but I think the fact that I didn't care for the actress who played Melinda got in the way. I'd really looked forward to Millions and while I did like it, I am not sure I loved it like I thought I might. Instead, a movie I nearly skipped because I was running out of time took me completely by surprise... Me and You and Everyone We Know was simply wonderful. Weird. Fascinating. Read the Charlie Chan imdb review.... he says it well.

What I Was Listening to in October and November

Mamma Mia! The Musical Based on the Songs of ABBA: The Original 1999 London Cast
Juice Newton Greatest Hits
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young Deja Vu
Nic Armstrong and the Thieves The Greatest White Liar
The Who Who's Next
The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan, White Blood Cells, Elephant
The Guess Who Greatest Hits
Harry Nisson All Time Greatest Hits

I was still a little hooked on the Mamma Mia /ABBA music as October kicked in. But I also pulled out the White Stripes and The Who again. I listened to much greater variety of music than this but these were my "music kicks" these past couple months. My cd purchases were the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young CD and the Guess Who and the Harry Nilsson greatest hits cds.
Juice Newton is one I acquired from my sister Lori and it brought back fond memories of the LP we used to have of her music. I heard an interview with Susan Tedeschi on NPR the other day on the way to work... She has a new album, Hope and Desire and I guess it's all covers . I am thinking I might need to pick this up soon.... or maybe I should just get her new "Best of" cd (that does seem to be my trend, eh?).