Monthly Archives: March 2013

April Preview

The Sunday Salon.com
I guess the big news for bloggers this past week was that Amazon bought the social media/book review site Goodreads, which depending upon how you look at it could be bad or good. I use Goodreads a bit infrequently but liked that it was an independent entity and source for recommendations. Now that it’s owned by the conglomerate Amazon, which owns LibraryThing and Shelfari too, I can’t help but think there’s a wee conflict of interest at hand, which I find troubling. Amazon now is capable of publishing books, selling them and reviewing them. It can target you based on your reviews or spotlight what it wants sold. It owns much of its competition and dominates the industry. Do you see any of this as troubling, or do you feel it’ll be beneficial?

Meanwhile, spring has sprung in many areas, and new releases are raining down in April. Quite a few notable authors are included on the book list at the right.

I’ve picked about five April releases that I think seem good. First, there’s Kate Atkinson’s much acclaimed new one, “Life After Life,” which appears to be an interesting departure from her Jackson Brodie books, and is about the successive lives of Ursula Todd.

Then there’s Meg Wolitzer’s latest, “The Interestings,” which follows a group of artsy friends from their teenage years through to adulthood. It’s been touted by the likes of Jeffrey Eugenides among others.

Not to be overlooked is Claire Messud’s new novel “The Woman Upstairs” which Daphne Merkin calls a “psychological suspense story of the highest sort” and “the first truly feminist … novel I have read in ages.”

Another intriguing one perhaps is “The Flamethrowers” by Rachel Kushner, which is the story of a young artist and the elite and underground worlds she encounters in New York and Rome during the mid-1970s. Booklist calls it a ” propulsively dramatic tale of creativity and destruction.”

Lastly is a debut novel called “Dear Lucy” by Julie Sarkissian that has garnered a lot of positive praise for creating an unforgettable new heroine with an original voice that lingers apparently long after the book’s final pages.

So check these out, along with the new books by veterans James Salter and Isabel Allende.

Meanwhile, in April movie releases (see the list at the left), I will go ahead and pick the Matthew McConaughey film “Mud,” which competed for the Palme d’Or award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. I’m not usually a big McConaughey fan, but this one about a fugitive on the run looks pretty decent and received warm praise apparently at the festival. I’m a bit curious, too, about the film “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” about an ambitious Pakistani man in America post 9/11. Mira Nair, the same director who did “The Namesake” also directed this one.

Lastly, there’s a lot of strong album releases in April (see the list at the bottom right), but perhaps I’m most interested in singer/songwriter Kim Richey’s new one called “Thorn in My Heart.” She’s a bit of a country artist who possesses a heavenly voice. I’ll be eager to check out her latest “Thorn.”

These are just some of my picks this month. Which April releases are you most looking forward to? Continue reading

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Seaworthy: A Swordfish Captain Returns to the Sea

Every once in a while I’ll read a book of nonfiction. I enjoy fiction more, but when done well, nonfiction can be good, too. My husband gave me “Seaworthy: A Swordfish Captain Returns to the Sea” for Christmas I think because he wants to keep me interested in being on a boat at sea. We stayed aboard a sailboat for a week last summer, sailing around Lake Ontario, which was pretty much tantamount to heaven for him, though I’m not sure I ever really got to be captain of the boat like Linda Greenlaw.

You may remember Linda Greenlaw from Sebastian Junger’s 1997 book “The Perfect Storm” about the swordfishing crew aboard the Andrea Gail who were lost at sea during a huge storm in 1991. Greenlaw was also featured in the 2000 movie version played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; Greenlaw was captaining the sister ship the Hannah Boden at the time and was friends with the captain of the Andrea Gail and in radio contact before it went down. She told about that experience in her 1999 book “The Hungry Ocean.” She’s noted as being America’s only female swordfish boat captain and has written three books about being a commercial fisher.

But this was my first of hers. I had read Junger’s “Perfect Storm” and somehow never got around to reading Greenlaw’s “Hungry Ocean” (though I still want to). “Seaworthy” picks up her story 10 years later after she’s been asked to captain a boat for a season of swordfishing once again. She’s been out of swordfishing since then, while lobstering, and now at 47 years old was worried she’d be rusty, but couldn’t help but jump at the chance.

“Seaworthy” tells of her time captaining the sixty-three-foot boat the Seahawk on a quest for swordfish with a crew of four guys along the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. It’s quite a tale. Who knew Greenlaw would incur such terrible happenstances upon her return to commercial deepwater fishing? It seems almost as if everything that could go wrong, sort of does. The equipment doesn’t work, the shoddy boat breaks down, they drift into Canadian waters while fishing and Greenlaw is arrested, they lack gear and electronics, and the boat’s overseer makes a wrongful decision in ordering them back to port too early to drop the fish off at market.

I realize now there’s so many aspects that come into play in swordfishing at the Grand Banks. Greenlaw writes it’s 1,000 miles from home and 144 hours from Cape Cod Bay, just in getting there. Good luck if you break down. They planned for 60 days at sea, out on the ocean setting and hauling in 30 miles of long lines of 800 hooks again and again, all amid hurricane season. It’s sort of madness that can get one killed in unpredictable weather and on an unreliable boat, but Greenlaw appears at home in her element, being at sea on a fishing boat captaining men.

She’s an entertaining narrator, and combined with the daily journey, gets into the mental aspects of what makes a good captain, how she gets along with the crew, and how she’s changed in her years away from swordfishing. She goes into her inner doubts and explores herself at this stage in life while facing a myriad of challenges onboard the Seahawk.

It all makes for interesting reading. I got caught up in “Seaworthy” and felt despite the Seahawk’s various disasters it was a worthwhile and compelling read. I’m envious Greenlaw is both such a knowledgeable boat captain and an author who can write so well about her adventures and the profession she loves. I felt like I could feel the boat rocking and the wind at sea. I’d be interested to read her other books as well.

Which by the way, she has just published a new book called “Lifesaving Lessons: Notes From an Accidental Mother” about her newly adopted daughter. From what blogger Beth Fish says of the audiobook, it’s quite inspirational as well. Check it out. Continue reading

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Gone Girl

Yep, I finally took the plunge and read last year’s top-selling suspense novel “Gone Girl.” About time, right? I sort of had been saving it for an island retreat or something, where I pictured devouring it while lounging on a beach chair under a palm tree. But “Gone Girl” never made it to spring break, which for me is in April, it got picked up by my book club and we discussed it this week.

For sure, most people know what it’s about by now. It’s about a marriage gone terribly wrong and a fifth year wedding anniversary that comes and goes with the wife found missing under suspicious circumstances. What more do you need to know? The couple (Nick and Amy) had been magazine writers in New York City before losing their jobs and having to move back to Nick’s hometown in Missouri. Using Amy’s money (her parents are successful authors of an “Amazing Amy” book series), Nick has bought a bar with his twin sister where he works while Amy remains at home unemployed. That’s about when the wheels come unglued for these two.

It’s told in alternating chapters between Nick, who’s a suspect in his wife’s disappearance, and Amy who fills in the history of their relationship from the beginning. The author weaves the web of it all very well, suspensefully propelling one through it almost like a bat out of hell. I can’t say the characters are really likable, there’s no real good guys in this. I’m sure you’d be ready to hypothetically strangle either Amy, Nick or the cops, sister, or parents at times for what they’re like. And don’t forget Desi.

I mean the novel is done well, but it’s pretty crazy. It reminded me slightly of a combination of “Fatal Attraction,” “Presumed Innocent” and perhaps a touch of “Psycho” thrown in. There’s plenty of twists, with the characters trying to outmaneuver each other at each step of the way. Suffice it to say you’ll be fairly spent by the time you get done. I think my book club liked it quite a bit but I’m not sure I’d recommend it to everyone. But for the suspense genre, it sure has made waves.

“Gone Girl” recently made the longlist for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction, formerly known as the Orange Prize. Stay tuned to see if it will make the shortlist, which will be announced on April 16. It also apparently has been picked up to be made into a movie, which begs the question: who should be in it? My book club suggested possibly: Josh Lucas as Nick and Charlize Theron as Amy. hmm. Your suggestions?

ps. This summer my husband and I will have our third year wedding anniversary; if “Gone Girl” is any example just think what we have to look forward to at the fifth year anniversary!@!?<@#! LOL. Continue reading

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March Preview

The Sunday Salon.com
March looks to be a robust month for new book, album and movie releases. Of the book releases listed at the top right, my top picks this month include a Pulitzer Prize winning author, a novelist who is also a filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest, and a debut novelist.

First off, I won’t be able to resist reading “The Burgess Boys,” the latest novel by Elizabeth Strout. I enjoyed her novels “Amy and Isabelle” and her 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner “Olive Kitteridge,” and it’s a sure bet “The Burgess Boys” will be good as well. She’s a master storyteller and writer.

I’m also looking at “A Tale for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki, which tells the story of a diary washed ashore inside a Hello Kitty lunchbox — possibly debris from the 2011 Japan tsunami — and the profound effect it has on the woman who discovers it. This novel has received a lot positive commentary and sounds like an enticing premise. The author, a former filmmaker, divides her time between NYC and British Columbia.

Lastly, “Double Feature” is the debut novel from short-story writer Owen King, the youngest son of — you guessed it — Stephen King. But instead of horror this debut has been called a “joyful gonzo ride” by “Swamplandia’s” Karen Russell. It’s about an indie filmmaker, his family, lovers and adversaries. It sounds funny and irreverent, and author Lauren Groff deems it “a moving exploration of what it means to be an artist.”

Moving on to March film releases (see the list at the top left), I can’t say there are many that caught my interest. But there’s the new fantasy adventure “Oz,” which is a prequel to the 1939 classic. It’s a bit hard to say if it’s going to be any good or not. I’m not sure I’ll immediately run out and see it. I sort of am old-school and like the original just as it was, without enhancing it with a modern-day prequel.

The film “Emperor,” about the terms of Japan’s surrender in WWII, does interest me quite a bit. Tommy Lee Jones plays Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Matthew Fox plays a lead role as well. I think it seems like a film worth watching, and I’ll be interested to see what historians think of it.

For albums coming out this month (see list at bottom right), there’s quite a few big name artists with new releases, including Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, and posthumously Jimi Hendrix. There’s even a new one from Dido, remember her? Wow what a list. But I’m going to have to give the spotlight to Justin Timberlake’s new album “The 20/20 Experience” after his magnetic performance at the Grammys. He hasn’t put out a new album since 2006 so this one is very much awaited. Judging from his single off it (“Suit & Tie”), it should be great.

These are just some of my picks this month. Which March releases are you most looking forward to? Continue reading

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