Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

• The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando by William J. Mann - from HarperCollins for review
• Oi Frog! by Kes Gray and Jim Field - purchased

The Contender was a surprise (unsolicited). I'm admittedly not big on biographies unless I have some special interest in a person or topic (a biography specifically of wartime years, for example). But, I'll always flip through and read the cover info to see if I'm interested when a book is sent to me unsolicited and I am intrigued. I was around when Marlon Brando was still alive and I thought of him as kind of a hot mess. I really have not seen much of his work, although I liked him in The Freshman. I was totally unaware that he was a social activist. This interests me. The book is a big one but it's not going to be released till October so hopefully I can get an early start on it and have it finished by then. Oi Frog! was bought on a whim. It's cute but not what I was hoping for, although the ending made me laugh out loud.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Oi Frog! by Kes Gray and Jim Field
• If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O'Brien
• Finding Orion by John David Anderson

I read If I Die in a Combat Zone for Memorial Day. I may have mentioned that. Speaking of biographies, it's O'Brien's story of his time in Vietnam, although he also describes the time just before, when he was trying to decide whether or not he should run to Canada or another country, on principle. Like his fiction, it's pretty horrifying but so well-written and gripping that I started reading it on Monday afternoon and finished in the morning on Tuesday. Finding Orion is yet another middle grade book that began slowly but improved.


Currently reading:

• The Mueller Report: Washington Post version (with 50 pages of extra material)
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I didn't touch Cat Poems or The Unspeakable Mind, this week, but I hope to finish up the book of poetry and read at least a little of The Unspeakable Mind, this week. I'm finding that I really only want to read The Mueller Report, right now, but I'm forcing myself to read a little of something else, every day, so some days I don't read any of The Mueller Report at all (even though it's what I desire to read). Everyone in America should read it. Seriously, everyone. I've read 100 pages of the version I'm reading (not sure how many pages of the report itself that entails) and it's amazing that nobody has shut the president up about calling the "Russia thing" a "hoax". How Russia attacked us and is still attacking us is very clearly detailed, down to who did the funding, what Russian agencies were involved, and how the Russians got American photographs to put in their fake social media accounts (hint: they came here). It also mentions that the attack is ongoing and becoming more sophisticated.

I think a lot of Republicans would be up in arms about McConnell's refusal to debate any election security bills if they took the time to read it. We are in desperate need of some very serious work to protect our elections.


Posts since last Malarkey:

• Wunderland by Jennifer Cody Epstein (book review)
• Fiona Friday: Catnipped (cat photo)

So, not a big blogging week, then. No, not at all. 

In other news:

It was, however, a big TV week. I watched both seasons of Fleabag. I was curious about Fleabag because I read about it in Entertainment Weekly and they made it sound so brilliant that my interest was piqued. It's about a young woman who owns a London cafe that's doing badly after the death of her partner in the business. I watched the first episode and thought, "Oh, this is so rude and inappropriate. I love it." Well, it's about life, really, and it's so very, very British. It's the kind of show in which someone will be complaining that a sauce is absolutely revolting and then a waitress or waiter drops by and asks if everything's okay and that same person says, "Oh, marvelous, yes. Fine, thank you, it's delicious." An American version would have the poor waitress in tears, probably.

At any rate, it's a very rude show (language, sex) but utterly fascinating for the interpersonal dynamics and the way a very sad heroine tries to make up for the emptiness inside by sleeping around. In the end you find out exactly why she's so torn apart. And, someone does something very kind for the heroine, which I confess brought me to tears. Wonderful ending. That's the first season. The second season has a new secondary cast and the problems of the first season are gone, mentioned maybe once. In the second season, the heroine falls for a priest.

The really stand-out thing about Fleabag, besides the fact that it's hilarious and disgusting and surprisingly meaningful, is that the cast is out of this world. Olivia Coleman, Ben Aldridge, Bill Paterson, and Andrew Scott are a few of the famous faces. There were others I recognized but couldn't put a name to. It's got quite an all-star cast. I sort of binged on Fleabag and now I'm watching it again with Husband, who is not a binge-watcher. This second viewing will take forever.

I also watched a Hallmark movie: The Birthday Wish. Loved it. And, we're still watching The Heart Guy and The Royal but didn't get to see many episodes, this week.

Oh, one more! We started watching Good Omens. So far, so good. Love the cast, of course. And, since I'm also reading the book, I can compare the script to the book. Fun.



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