Susan Jackson Bybee's Blog

 Sometimes, you just run out of ideas for blog post titles.

Here's what I read in August:

1. Original Sin -- Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Nonfiction. Apparently, President Joe Biden had been struggling with cognitive issues for some time, and his inner circle worked diligently to conceal this so Biden could be a two-term president. Nobody -- family, friends, colleagues, media --  comes off very well in this report. I felt like I needed a shower after I read this book.

2. The Magicians - Lev Grossman. Novel. Audiobook. Sometimes a book will surprise you, and you'll be smitten. It's like Hogworts and Narnia, except with young adults, so that layer of wonder and sanitizing is stripped away, and it's hilarious. Sometimes it feels like a piss-take, but I don't mind at all. Recognizing all the tropes and seeing how the students react is all part of the fun. Don't know if I'll get to all the books in the trilogy, but it's a pleasant goal to contemplate.

3. What Do We Know About The Lost Colony of Roanoke? - Emma Carlson Berne. Nonfiction. History's mysteries.

4. The Lioness - Chris Bohjalian. Novel. Audiobook. In this historical fiction novel, Hollywood superstar Katie Barstow decides to spend part of her honeymoon on a safari in Africa. It's 1964, and not a great time to vacation there. Katie has brought along an entourage of friends and family, and they get kidnapped by Russians. The chapters are framed by blurbs and sappy excerpts from The Hollywood Reporter or Screen Confidential about the character whose POV is about to be presented, then the current dilemma, the kidnapping, seen from the point of view of different characters. Then a backstory that leads up to the trip is presented. Speaking of frames, an older woman narrates about her role in this long-ago disaster adventure, but we don't know her identity until much later. I was drawn in by the story, but there were so many anachronisms of speech that I would become distracted. Bohjalian must have the same editor, (or not-editor) as Kristin Hannah. It's a small criticism, though, and it won't stop me from seeking out more Chris Bohjalian novels.

5. Shoes Off, Please - Helena Ku Rhee. Juvenile picture book. Very flat affect. It feels as if it was written by AI.

6. Becoming Real: The True Story of The Velveteen Rabbit - Molly Golden. Juvenile picture book. I love how this biography of the author of The Velveteen Rabbit was presented! Margery Williams' life story, full of sorrow and struggle and travel is interspersed with quotes from her most famous work. At the end of the book, the author gives suggestions on activities that parents and children can do with their own favorite stuffed animals or toys. I found myself pulled back into childhood and memories of my beloved stuffed pink dog, Karen Ann.

7. Walking Toward Peace: The True Story of a Brave Woman Called Peace Pilgrim - Kathleen Krull. Juvenile picture book.  An inspiring portrait of a well-to-do woman who decided one day that the material world was lacking, and she went on to devote her life to crossing the country on foot to promote peace. This was well before Instagram and other social media, so she was truly a pioneer.

 

July was such a good reading month. I feel as if I got my reading mojo back. It never stays gone, but when it's gone, it feels permanently gone. But it's here, making itself at home and putting its feet up on the coffee table. Whew.

I caught COVID during the 4th of July weekend, which was unpleasant at first, but as I improved, paid off in reading dividends. I was able to plow through my half-read stack while half-sitting up in bed, as Waverly remained close by and basked in the heat of my elevated temperature.

1. Born To Run -Bruce Springsteen. Memoir. Audiobook. Much more rumination than I was expecting from The Boss. He's thoughtful. Thought-Full. Enjoyed his narration of the memoir.

2. James - Percival Everett. Novel. Smart, sly, funny, and subversive. Since I have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it was interesting to see where the two narratives meet and diverge. I am sure that Mark Twain would heartily recommend this novel. Read this one for the new, no-name book group.

3. Spent - Alison Bechdel. "Comic Novel". A fictional version of Bechdel and her partner live "off the grid" near an idyllic small town in Vermont where their lives intertwine with characters from Dykes To Watch Out For. Now I want to go back and read the whole DTWOF series and get better acquainted with everyone.

4. The Matriarch - Susan Page. Nonfiction. A serviceable biography of Barbara Bush. It's written in a sort of a gossipy style. Good interviews with Barbara Bush and her immediate family and her many friends. My main irritation with the book concerns the biographer: Somehow, Susan Page could not keep herself out of it! I'm of the school that biographers should be like the proverbial fly on the wall. This would involve some use of the passive voice, but so what? It's not all bad, and exists for situations like this one. Read this one for the 3 R's book group. The theme for the month was to pick a first lady and read a book about her.

5. Honey, Baby, Mine - Laura Dern and Diane Ladd. Memoir. Audiobook. A few years ago, Diane Ladd was unwittingly exposed to dangerous pesticides that jeopardized her lung capacity. Doctors told Diane and her daughter, Laura Dern, that Diane didn't have much time, but one doctor said that if Laura could get Diane up and walking, that would improve her breathing, so the two began a series of walks which also became conversations about their lives. Dern recorded the conversations, but listening to the audiobook, I wasn't sure if these were the actual original conversations, or re-creations, because at times, Dern in particular, sounds especially neat and pat. Not to mention that they are both accomplished actors. I'm happy that Dern got her mother walking and talking, and I'm pleased that Ladd got well. I enjoyed all the theatre and Hollywood name-dropping and gossip, but the whole package feels so contrived. I'm thinking in particular of an argument they have towards the end of the book. In addition, I could have lived without the introduction by Reese Witherspoon.

6. Who is Willie Nelson? - David Stabler. Nonfiction. A damn good entry in the Who Was...? series. I enjoyed reading about Willie's early life and his lengthy struggle for success. Also, the author doesn't shy away from Willie's marijuana use, his battles with the IRS, and an extramarital affair that produced a daughter. My only (minor) gripe is that I would have liked to have seen a brief discussion of how Willie developed his distinctive singing style.

7. A Marriage at Sea - Sophie Elmhirst. Nonfiction. In 1973, an English couple, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey were sailing to New Zealand when their boat was smashed by an injured whale. The Baileys had sold their house and built this boat to follow their dreams of adventure. After the encounter with the whale, the boat sank quickly, and the Baileys were soon adrift in a rubber raft with a dinghy attached and a meager supply of food. Their ordeal went on for 118 days, until they were spotted and rescued by a Korean fishing vessel. A year later, they published their account, 117 Days Adrift. (It was actually 118 days, but early reports got the amount of time wrong.) Journalist Sophie Elmhirst, writing in beautiful and restrained prose, covers their ordeal in A Marriage at Sea, but also goes back to the couple's beginnings, when shy, introverted Maurice met outgoing, extroverted Maralyn, and they somehow clicked. Elmhirst also discusses the couple's sudden celebrity after their rescue, their return to sailing. The book comes full circle, and again, it is beautifully composed, and breathtaking in its empathy and insights. It's wonderful and my favorite read for July. 

8. Who is Caitlin Clark? -Meri-Jo Borzilleri. Nonfiction. This is one of the 50-pagers in the Who Was...? series, and admittedly, there's not much to say about WNBA star Caitlin Clark, since she's still at the beginning of her career. Reading her origin story was time well spent, and now I won't be so jaw-droppingly ignorant when I see her name in sports news.

In book-related news, I followed the story about Dan Pelzer with great interest. Columbus, Ohio native Pelzer died recently at the age of 92, and left behind a reading log that began back in 1962, and it looks like it went on at least until 2023. .Also, nearly every book Dan logged was checked out from the Ohio Public Library system. His daughter, Marci, posted the100+-page list at what-dan-read.com One of the branches in the Columbus library system has a display of books from Dan's list. In his obituary, it says something to the effect of "in lieu of flowers, go out and read a real page-turner." The more I read about Dan, the more I wish I could have met him.

Do you log your reading? If so, how long have you done so? I've been at it regularly since 1993. (I have a list from 1990, and an incomplete list from 1991.) I love looking back at what I've read, and what others have read. If you haven't started a reading log, please consider doing so. They literally are the stories of our lives.

 I really didn't mean to take such a long, long, long break. No excuses. Just caught in a gentle drift. Now I'm back. Not ready to be a not-blogger yet.

Where I was: Home, work, book group(s), an overnight trip to Springfield. Also, on my phone too much.

What I wore: The usual stuff. Haven't found a white Emily Dickinson dress that suits me.

What I read: 27 books. Not a huge amount, but some of them were chunksters.

1. A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life. (nonfiction) - Ayelet Waldman. Audiobook.

2. Be Ready When the Luck Happens. (memoir) - Ina Garten. (I thought Garten's memoir would really resonate with me, but something fell flat, like an unsuccessful souffle.)

3. Long Island. (novel) - Colm Toibin. (enjoyable Edith Wharton vibes!)

4. Giovanni's Room. (novel) -James Baldwin. (so glad I finally read this book!)

5. Burning Bright (novel) - Tracy Chevalier. Audiobook.

6. Who Is Cynthia Erivo? (nonfiction) - Crystal Hubbard.

7. Waiter Rant. (nonfiction) "The Waiter".

8. Who Is Ariana Grande? (nonfiction) -Kirsten Anderson.

9. The Man Who Lived Underground. (novella) - Richard Wright.

10. Carrie. (novel) - Stephen King. (Intro by Margaret Atwood!)

11. The Only One Left (novel) -Riley Sager. (read for the first meeting of my very newest book group.)

12. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol I. (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

13. Animal Dreams. (novel) - Barbara Kingsolver. (read this one for my other book group. I adore and revere Barbara Kingsolver, just not this book, and one of the other members got huffy at my saying so.)

14. Who Was Shirley Chisholm? (nonfiction) - Crystal Hubbard.

15. The Poppy War. (novel) R.F. Kuang. (new book group; it has no name. The more I read of Kuang, the more impressed I become.)

16. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 2. (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

17. Mary McLeod Bethune. (nonfiction) - Sandra Donovan.

18. The Constant Rabbit. (novel) - Jasper Fforde. (read this one for new, no-name book group)

19. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 3 (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

20. Three Days in June. (novel) - Anne Tyler. (Anne Tyler was interviewed on a Sunday morning talk show. I nearly swooned from happiness.)

21. What Was The Renaissance? (nonfiction) - Roberta Edwards.

22. Who is Carol Burnett? (nonfiction) - David Stabler.

23. Woe. (graphic novel) Lucy Knisley. (Linney! You're my new favorite cartoon cat!)

24. Severance. (novel) - Ling Ma. (new no-name book group read. It's an immigrant experience novel! It's a dystopian, apocalyptic tale! It's a zombie story! Who says you can't have it all? Not Ling Ma!)

25. A Promised Land. (memoir) - Barack Obama. Audiobook. (wise, wry, reflective. can't wait for volume 2.)

26. Jane Austen's Bookshelf. (nonfiction) - Rebecca Romney. (favorite book so far this year. It woke up the extreme bookloving part of myself and made me realize that I wanted to keep blogging. Read it, please!)

27. The Dog Stars. (novel) - Peter Heller. (read for new no-name book group. Not my favorite. Author is a travel writer who channeled Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy and came up wanting. Also: clunky sex scenes.

I was going to tidy this post, but I've almost lost it twice, so off it goes to meet the orange Publish button.

 

I can't decide if I should keep my resolutions manageable this year, or let this be a twelvemonth that I swing for the fences. 

Maybe a mixture of the two:

1. Read 64 books

2. Continue with my new book group

3. Fiercely patronize my local bookstore Bazoo Books  

and 

devotedly haunt my newest and most favorite library, James C. Kirkpatrick Library at the University of Central Missouri

4. Keep up my reading journal -- the one where I record all of my supposedly deep thinky-thoughts about what I've read daily, weekly, etc.

5. Bigger, better bookshelf. My whole damn home library all along one wall of the living room.

6. A sofa upholstered in emerald green velvet

7. Less phone, more book

* = Wow
1. Being Henry: The Fonz and Beyond - Henry Winkler *2. Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend -Karen Blumenthal  (audiobook)3. Who was Salvador Dali? - Paula Menzanero4. Child Star - Shirley Temple Black5. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry *6. What is the Story of Romeo and Juliet? - Max Bisantz7. Granny Smith is NOT an Apple - Sharon Glen Fortson8. I Must Be Dreaming - Roz Chast *9. Class - Stephanie Land *10. Who is Taylor Swift? - Kirsten Anderson11. Knife - Salman Rushdie *12. What were the Shark Attacks of 1916? - Nico Medina13. What was the Great Molasses Flood of 1919? - Kirsten Anderson *14. Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Philip Gefter15. It Ended Badly: 13 of  the Worst Breakups in History - Jennifer Wright *16. Rx - Rachel Lindsay17. The Road to Oz - Kathleen Krull *18. Lost Boy: The Story of the Man who Created Peter Pan - Jane Yolen *19. Who Gets the Drumstick? - Helen Beardsley20. Who is Michael Phelps? - Micah Hecht 21. Random Family - Adrian Nicole LeBlanc *22. Mornings on Horseback - David McCullough * (audiobook)23. Bibliophile - Jane Mount *24. Loving Sylvia Plath - Emily van Duyne *25. Who is Billie Jean King? - Sarah Fabiny26. Who is Lin-Manuel Miranda? - Elijah Ray-David Matos27. American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath - Carl Rollyson28. Sociopath: A Memoir - Patric Gagne29. Who is Travis Kelce? - Ellen LeBrecque30. What is the Story of Smokey the Bear? - Steve Korte31. World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly - Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan *32. A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 - Jeanine Basinger *33. The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum - Temple Grandin * (audiobook)34. Cher: The Memoir, Part One - Cher *35. Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh36. Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin * (audiobook)

* = Favorites
  1.  The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion - Fannie Flagg (audiobook)2. The Witches of Worm - Zilpha Keatley Snyder3. Eligible - Curtis Sittenfeld (audiobook)4. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens5. Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly * (audiobook)6. Akin - Emma Donoghue7. The Vaster Wilds - Lauren Groff8. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, age 83 1/4 - "Hendrik Groen" * (audiobook)9. The Guest - Emma Cline *10. Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan * (audiobook)11. Emma - Jane Austen * (audiobook)12 The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman *13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey (audiobook)14. Come and Get It - Kiley Reid (audiobook)15. When Christ and His Saints Slept - Sharon Kay Penman *16. Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid * (audiobook)17. The Overstory - Richard Powers * (audiobook)18. Miss Kopp Investigates - Amy Stewart * (audiobook)19. Kopp Sisters on the March - Amy Stewart20. Dear Miss Kopp - Amy Stewart21. Dear Hanna - Zoje Stage *22. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love - Oscar Hijuelos (audiobook)23. Lady Oracle - Margaret Atwood * (audiobook)24. Time and Chance - Sharon Kay Penman *25. A King's Ransom - Sharon Kay Penman * (audiobook)26. Leave Her to Heaven - Ben Ames Williams27. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain *

 Once upon a time (maybe 8 or 9 years ago?) I was struggling to figure out a reading goal for the year. I had tried for 100, and come up short and frustrated. Then I saw or heard about someone reading the same amount of books as their age, and it was such an elegant solution that I've adopted and used it ever since. Most years I exceed the goal, but this year, I barely made it, and I know why: Too much phone. Can I fix this? Can I manage my addiction? Neuroplasticity is a wonderful thing. Stay tuned.

Here are a few stats from my reading year:

Books read: 63

Fiction:27

Nonfiction: 36

Audiobooks: 18

Graphic novels: 3

Library books: 50

My books: 12

Gift: 1

First book of 2024: Being Henry: The Fonz and Beyond - Henry Winkler (memoir)

Last book of 2024: Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin (nonfiction)

Longest book: The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman (novel) 936 pages

Shortest book: Granny Smith is NOT an Apple! - Sharon Glen Fortson (picture book) 32 pages

Funniest book: Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan (novel) and I Must Be Dreaming - Roz Chast (graphic novel)

Saddest book: Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry (memoir)

Most helpful book: Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin (nonfiction)

Bridge books (started in 2024, will finish in 2025: One of Ours - Willa Cather (novel), Be Ready When the Luck Happens - Ina Garten (memoir), and A Really Good Day -Ayelet Waldman (nonfiction)

DNF I don't think I DNF'd anything this year. I wanted to, but I didn't, which brings me to the next category...

Give me back my time: Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens (novel), Sociopath - Patric Gagne (memoir), and Leave Her to Heaven - Ben Ames Williams (novel). In the case of the two novels, watch the movies instead.

Smooth Bookworm Moves: 

1. Discovering Sharon Kay Penman's books

2. Discovering Temple Grandin's works

3. Finishing the Kopp Sisters series

4. Quitting lame-o book group 

5. Finding new book group where organic discussion is prized 

6. Joining university library -- so vast and delightfully niche-y at the same time.

Next up: The fiction I read in 2024

What about that December, eh? I have a confession: I didn't think that I would make my goal (63 books), so I sneaked in a short favorite, The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain. I'm  so unashamed for manipulating the results. Gasp. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing an ankle bracelet like the femme fatale in Double Indemnity.

Here's my brief December list of reads:

1. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain. Novel. I never get tired of this book. Noir at its best. From the title to the last line, it's a delicious, dark treat.

2. Cher: The Memoir, Part One - Cher. Memoir. This first volume follows Cher from her origins up to her 30s, as she is trying to break into acting, and finding some resistance. I love her conversational style. Can't wait for Part Two!

3. Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh. Nonfiction. True Crime. John Orr was a brilliant and respected arson investigator in Glendale, California. But guess what? He was simultaneously a serial arsonist, committing crimes all over the state. I was interested in this book because of the stark duality of John Orr, and also because true crime is so satisfying. Law enforcement starts with merely jigsaw pieces of clues, and they slowly and methodically put the puzzle together then build their case, hoping that a jury will concur with their finding and serve up justice. All of that was present in Fire Lover, but I do not care for Wambaugh's style, which gets in the way of the story he is trying to tell. His asides are not edgy, nor incisive, nor funny. They're just static. He's most effective when he stops his verbal swaggering and merely reports the facts of a case.

4. Animals Make Us Human: Creating The Best Life for Animals - Temple Grandin. Nonfiction. Grandin, who has worked with animals in one way or another during her long career, structures this informative and entertaining book around the emotions of animals, particularly the "blue-ribbon" emotions as identified by neuroscientist Dr. Jaak Panksepp: SEEKING (throughout the book, the emotions are written in all caps, in the style of Panksepp) RAGE, FEAR, PANIC, LUST, CARE, and PLAY. Grandin focuses mainly on the first four, using examples from her own experience and research. SEEKING is a pleasurable emotion, and needs to be satisfied or animals will suffer abnormal brain development, which is exhibited by continuous repetitive behaviors usually seen in animals in captivity but not in their wildlife counterparts. Grandin is adamant that their environment can be modified to benefit their mental health. She discusses dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals. Grandin is insightful, intelligent, and caring. This was one of my favorite reads of 2024.

By now, we're a couple of days into the new year, and I'm more than ready to get nerdy with my bookworm stats in the next post.

 

 Since this post is a little late, it's going to have that hurried feel. Once I recall my reading adventures in November, then it'll be time to recount December's reads, then do a look back at 2024. I set my goal at 63, and I'm just barely going to make it to that number. I know exactly why, and I'll fix it in 2025.

Nonfiction November was fun, and here are the four books I read:

World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly - Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Nonfiction. One of the most enjoyable parts of my trip to Seattle in 2019 was a visit to Chihuly's museum. This book, from the juvenile shelf, traces Dale Chihuly's life and career as a glassblower. Stunning photographs and great interviews with Chihuly and his co-creators. In the picture above, my son is standing against the leg of what I think of as a big red bug.

A King's Ransom - Sharon Kay Penman. Novel.  Audiobook. The final book in Penman's Plantagenet series. This covers Richard the Lionheart's final years, from his departure from The Holy Land, to his capture and imprisonment in Germany, and his last years in France, trying to protect his vast territory from the French king, I'm reading this series all out of order. Next up is book #3, The Devil's Brood, and then I'll wrap things up with #4, Lionheart. While Penman's storytelling is riveting and unmatched, just as entertaining are the afterwards to her books, in which she scrupulously explains what she found in research and what she was compelled to invent. She writes with such rigor, like an accountant looking for a penny, or like the lawyer she once was, preparing a brief. 2024 brought me a lot of reading riches, and at the top of the list is Sharon Kay Penman.

A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 - Jeanine Basinger. Nonfiction,  In this 1993 volume of movie history, Basinger looks at "Women's Pictures", which are films featuring a strong female character who can be good, selfless and noble or bad, selfish, and nasty. Basinger critically appraises how the films are put together and how the script always seem to have a message or moral for the female audience. For example, a successful career woman can't seem to have it all, meaning love and marriage. No, she must give up everything for love, or she's a failure. Things like that. When Basinger finds an exception to the rule, she gleefully pounces on it. I got a lot of ideas for classic movies to watch this winter.

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum - Temple Grandin. Nonfiction, Audiobook. When Temple Grandin as a very young child was diagnosed as autistic in the late 1940s, knowledge about the condition was in its infancy, and fated to go through some serious missteps, like the belief that autism is psychological, and that it was the "fault" of cold, uncaring parents, particularly mothers. In the decades since, researchers have come to realize that it's more about the brain. As technology has also advanced, Grandin, a scientist, has gamely and cheerfully taken part in several brain scans, measuring them against so-called "normal" brains. In a huge paradigm shift for the field, she cites a researcher in Quebec who challenged other researchers to not frame differences as deficits, but instead assets. Grandin ends the book by challenging parents to study their autistic child from early on to determine where their strengths lie, and prepare them for a career that fits these strengths, instead of letting them drift along defined solely by the label of autistic. Grandin is an admirable blend of idealistic and common sense. She's my new favorite author, and I'm already halfway through her book Animals Make Us Human.

In book group land:  For December, our topic is Willa Cather. I'm going to re-read Paul's Case, one of her short stories, watch the 1980 PBS version starring Eric Roberts as Paul, and read One of Ours.

The list is tiny, but two of these three were chunky tomes.

 1. What is the Story of Smokey the Bear? -Steve Korte-  Nonfiction. A laborious look at a long-lived American icon.

2. Time and Chance -Sharon Kay Penman- Novel. The second installment in the Plantagenet series covers the early days of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage as well as his bromance then fractured relationship with Thomas Becket as Becket moved from being Lord Chancellor to, at Henry's urging, Archbishop of Canterbury. The job switch backfired on Henry because instead of having a yes man in the church, Becket had a conversion and began to take his religious role seriously. Again, impeccable research combined with spellbinding storytelling. It's a huge cast of characters and Penman brings them all to life. Next up: The Devil's Brood, which covers the lives of Henry and Eleanor's children as well as Eleanor and Henry's growing disillusionment with one another.

3. Leave Her to Heaven -Ben Ames Williams- Novel. A bloated and overlong soapy novel from 1944 about a writer who marries a woman with severe issues concerning boundaries. Hollywood improved on the material a couple of years later with a movie of the same name. Watch that instead. It's a noir in Technicolor!  Gene Tierney is beautiful and icy and merciless, stealing the whole film from the rest of the cast until Vincent Price enters and steals it from Tierney, picking splinters of the scenery he's chewed from his teeth as he strides away.

In other news:

Still loving my book group. At the last meeting, we reported on historical fiction we had read. I talked up Sharon Kay Penman's Plantagenet series. Other books mentioned were Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips, Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker, and Sipsworth by Simon van Booy. I promptly put all of them on my TBR. For the next meeting, November 15, we will be discussing nonfiction we have been reading, and thinking up new names for the book group for a fresh reset after declaring independence from the original library program.

I'm really glad that the topic is nonfiction, because I'm doing a Nonfiction November. Here's what's on my nonfiction stack:

1. A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women, 1930-1960. Jeanine Basinger.

2. The Noble Hustle. Colson Whitehead.

3. The Farm. Richard Rhodes.

4. Supercomminicators. Charles Duhigg.

5. Fire Lover. Joseph Wambaugh.

And finally...

Dreaming in Literature: The Weird Philip Roth Dream: 

Philip Roth came back to life and wrote a new novel. My first reaction was anxiety, because in dream-logic, I was compelled to read his book, like it or not. After picking it up and paging through, I felt better because the protagonist was female and the book was stream-of-consciousness like Ducks, Newburyport, and the main character constantly had earworms. At that point, I honestly wanted to read Roth's novel and remember feeling very tender and indulgent towards him.