Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree -- Book 11

It is a collection of essays that Nick Hornby -- author of High Fidelity and About a Boy -- wrote for the Believer, a magazine.

His monthly column that stretched out just over a year and covered a year of turmoil for a famous author in what and how he decided what to read.

Each column features a list of the books he bought and the books he actually read that month. It is a fascinating trail to follow with an author that has a lot of the same tastes that I have.

I recommend reading it if you are a bibliophile, but this is a very tough book to read for the non-reading geek.

Next up -- A.M. Homes - Jack

The Best Revenge by Stephen White -- Book 10

Not as good as his other books but still worth the read, Stephen White took me on an adventure that made me re-evaluate my definition of a hero. I wish I could give away the major plot twist that transpired half way through the book as it would help me explain as to what and who a hero should be defined as.

Click here for more information on the book I am talking about.

Stephen White has a knack to make you go... "hrm... I didn't see that coming" about half way through most of his books...and he did it again.

Read this book without any reservations or thoughts about what is real. It will surprise you.

Next on tap -- Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree

Million Dollar Baby & The Stepford Wives

Muh wife and I have been watching a ton of movies recently. The last two that we watched were Million Dollar Baby and The Stepford Wives.

They are an interesting study in contrast.

1. Million Dollar Baby is a well made movie that ends in a fashion that just hits you like a ton of bricks. As SZG said in his quip, we are not sure what we were expecting, but it was a lot different than we expected. It was a well made movie and I would certainly have voted for Hillary Swank to take the award this year if I was allowed to submit a ballot. She was incredible. I was also really impressed wiht the power of Clint Eastwood in this film. I don't want to give away too much, but the last 1/3 of movie is simply beyond explanation. The two of them put on the performances of their careers. That is saying a lot for Clint, but not as much for Hillary. I might even want to go on record as saying that she could very well be the single best actress out there right now. She is so understated and phenomenal.

2. On the other hand, there is the Stepford Wives, which might qualify as the single worst movie of the year. This movie features at least FOUR Oscar Winners (Glenn Close, Christopher Walken, Nicole Kidman, and Bette Midler (for music)), a TONY winner (Matthew Broderick) and TWO Grammy winners (Faith Hill and Bette Midler) and this is the crap that they came up with? Jesus... this movie was so bad that muh wife and I flipped around the special features to find something redeeming. We did... the first 30 seconds of the gag & blooper reel.

Horrid.

Books 7, 8 and 9

The trip to Hawaii wasn't as productive as I thought it was going to be in terms of reading books. This is primarilly because I watched FOUR movies on the 11 hour flight to Hawaii instead of reading.

Anyway...

Book 7 was Five People You Meet in Heaven. I decided to finally succumb and see what the big deal was about this book. I think the overall story was nice and an interesting way to look at heaven, but how and why is this book a major bestseller? I just don't get it. For anyone that reads regularly, it is 196 pages and extremely simplistic in its narration. You should be able to finish it in 2 hours.

Books 8 & 9 were the next two books in the Alan Gregory books by author Stephen White. As I stated in an earlier post, I have been reading his books. His books focus on a psychiatrist in Boulder, Colorado that solves crimes with the help of his D.A wife and his Boulder P.D. best friend. The books focus primarilly on his point of view and they strike intriguing chords witht he readers as they develop deeper and deeper in the psyches of some pretty messed up folks. Stephen White isn't a big name talent but he writes books with real and flawed characters and is still able to literally get me to a point where I have trouble putting the book down.

I was able to read The Program. This is a book about Witness Protection Program. Excellent read.

I was also able to read Warning Signs and this also qualifies as another top notch page turner. This book is about the justice system, terrrorism and vengeance. Halfway through the book, I literally put it on the coffee table, looked at my wife and went... "Wow... I didn't see that coming. That was pretty amazing."

I recommend his books. They are smart and entertaining. I would also recommend reading him from the beginning... you can actually see how much better he gets as he goes along. For more information on Stephen White go to here.

Book 6 -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Smelmooo and his wife have left for a vacation, so I should have a long list of books that I have finished after that.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was a transitional book as I didn't want to read any of my paperbacks befoer getting to vacation.

A 734 page transitional book, but I finished it nonetheless and thoroughly enjoyed it again.

Excellent!

Maria Full of Grace Update

As I was hoping, the lead actress from this powerful movie was nominated for a Best Actress statuette.

Catalina Sandino Moreno was tremendous and deserves every accolade she receives for her performance in this powerful film.