Booknote: Summer Reading

For some of us, summertime is an excuse to read something light or more frivolous than we usually would.  For others, it’s an opportunity to devote time to delving into a serious tome, perhaps one that’s been languishing on the shelf.  I view it as a chance to do both—indulge in lighter fare and stretch …

Tidy Tidbits: Film, Art & Vanessa

FILM I recommend Far from the Madding Crowd!  Beautiful countryside, beautifully filmed, and Carey Mulligan is a lovely Bathsheba, intelligent, definite and almost elfin.  And the men—Francis Troy has the required rakish dark hair and eyes, Boldwood (don’t you love Hardy’s choice of names!) is older, but not as sinister seeming as in the novel, …

Booknote: Shanghai Jazz & Montana Misery

WHAT I’VE READ RECENTLY Nicole Mones is an engaging writer.  Her background includes running a textile business importing wool from China, something she did for 18 years which means she writes knowledgeably and convincingly about that society and its culture.  Several years ago I read her novel, The Last Chinese Chef.  I absolutely loved this book, …

Tidy Tidbits: Reading & Red

READING There was a column about reading in the  recent Wall Street Journal Report: The Future.  I was pleased to see this, but think that Walter Mosley could have made a stronger case overall for the value of reading.  Nonetheless, he did write the following:  “There’s nothing like reading.  That interpretation through the nonconcrete medium of …