What I'm Reading Now -- Kindred

I'm pretty substantially behind on my 2023 Reading Challenge, but I have to take a break from it to read my next Postal Book Club book.  When there are these conflicts, what's a girl to do?

The book on offer, chosen by K, is Kindred, by Octavia Butler.  I've been wanting to read this one for a few years now, so I'm glad it's up next!

Movies -- A Recap -- Part XXXII -- The Biopic Edition

I have to give Spencer credit for being better than I expected.  It was intensely psychological and Kristen Stewart performed extremely well.  I don't typically care for her as an actor, but she was exactly the right amount of dark and moody and whiny to tackle this role.  I will say that I didn't realize it covered such a limited timeline in the Charles-Diana story, but regardless, it was well done.

I was on a flight when I saw House of Gucci.  I was disappointed.  It had such potential to be good, so many good actors, such a wild story, but it just ... wasn't good.  Compared to paying attention to the people around me on the airplane, it won out, but in other circumstances it would have been painful.  Also, I just don't like Adam Driver; I don't know why.  I recognize that he's a pretty good actor, but he just seems like sort of a slimy human and I can't get over that; maybe it's the hair.

It's hard not to love a movie like Hidden Figures.  It's a forgotten piece of some of America's favorite history (the Space Race), and it stars a trifecta of today's Black lady stars in Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, and Janelle Monae -- who of course save the day.  Of course there are also Kevin Costner, Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst, and Mahershala Ali.  When you put that many phenomenal people in a movie, how can it not be good? (Unless it's House of Gucci.).

As a random Hidden Figures aside, it's based on a book.  During the Pandemic when nobody could see anybody, E ordered me a delivery from a local bookstore.  The package had a book, a coaster, a postcard, some pencils, and other gifts.  The book that was included in my package was Code Girls.  For a while, I thought that this was the book the Hidden Figures movie was based on; it's not.

I'm predisposed to like anything Amy Adams does, and Hillbilly Elegy is no exception.  I can't give this film credit, though, without also giving credit to Glenn Close, who's grumpy-old-lady persona was something for the record books. She really is the star of this show.

I have been wanting to watch All the President's Men for years, and finally got around to it. The good thing about the details that are portrayed in the film is that they were minute enough that I had overlooked them in the broad stroke histories that I had learned in school.  That meant that, even though I knew broadly how it was going to go, I didn't know the ins and outs that the movie would follow.  It was a win.

I didn't know quite what to expect from Colette.  I like Keira Knightly and Dominic West, so I watched it.  I like a good period drama.  And generally I liked the movie, even more once I realized that it was based on a true story.  I loved Keira's character, who was a total boss lady, not to mention a writer and actress to boot.

What I Read -- Charm City: A Walk Through Baltimore

When I travel, I like to read a book about or set in or somehow related to the place where I am going.  S and I recently spent a week in Baltimore.  We were working remotely during the day, but we had afternoons, evenings, and a weekend to explore the city, specifically Fells Point, where we were staying.

I love walking.  I miss having my downtown condo and being able to walk to the dry cleaners, the grocery store, the library, and restaurants. 

Imagine my delight when I discovered that my library had a book all about walking around Baltimore: Charm City: A Walk Through Baltimore.  I started out reading it thoroughly, and the introduction gives some good background and city history.  I got through the first or second chapter when I realized that I wasn't really enjoying it.  It felt like I should be enjoying it, but I just wasn't into it.

Rather than giving up entirely, I skipped ahead to the chapter on Fells Point and the Inner Harbor.  That was a good move.  All the sudden, it was interesting again and I was fascinated to hear the details of the neighborhood in which we were staying.

I only skimmed through the rest of the book after that, but my experience with the Fells Point chapter made me believe that if I had more experience with Baltimore, I might have enjoyed the whole thing the way I enjoyed the Fells Point chapter.

I was interested to learn that this book is part of a series about walking.  I can't recall the name of the series now, but I added several other books from it to my reading list: On Island Time: A Traveler's Atlas: Illustrated Adventures on and Around the Islands of Washington and British Columbia, Hallowed Ground: A Walk at Gettysburg, and Time and Tide: A Walk Through Nantucket.

Brave New World -- Take 2

It was a long time coming, but I finally finished reading my May 2023 Reading Challenge book, Brave New World.

In case you also managed to skate through life without reading it, here's a brief synopsis: we're in a future in England where people are genetically modified from birth to fall into certain predefined roles in society.  Because they are conditioned, they are happy with their lot in life and unwilling to challenge the status quo.  Along comes The Savage, who grew up on a reservation in America for reasons you'll learn in the book.  It is through his eyes that we get the critical analysis of the governing social order.

I found this an easier read than I expected; in the way that so many "classics" are sort of tedious, this one was not. I did not, however, do the full scope of possible background research that I could have done.  Though I don't have a substantial enough base of knowledge to appreciate the full depth of naming various characters after famous totalitarian dictators and thinkers -- Marx, Lenina, Benito, Bonaparte -- I certainly did pick up on use of their names and the references (and reverence) conveyed thereby.  And of course, there's Ford.  The whole society is built on and continues to be inspired by the efficient mechanization of Henry Ford's assembly line, only now they're doing it with people.

The luddite in me loved much about the critique advance in this book. I feel for The Savage, just wanting a simpler, slower-paced life and not a fan of the forward march of "progress."

Also, What Happened to September?

How are we in October already?  Time to get out the Halloween decorations, I suppose.