Estella, A Pile of Books, a Movie and an Old Photograph

First things first . . . for those who can't get enough talk about books, the April issue of Estella's Revenge Ezine has been posted. You can reach the main page, here. My review of The Broken Shore, tada; and my article on our recent visit to Oxford, Mississippi, where we ate melt-in-your-mouth catfish and played with a totally cool dog on Faulkner's estate, voila. Congratulations to Andi and Heather on another great issue!

And, wahoo!, another photo of a pile of books . . . some recent acquisitions, a few of which I neglected the last time I stacked up books and asked them to smile:


Top to bottom:
An advanced reader of Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason (stay tuned; I'll be giving away a copy of the official release at the end of May)
Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer
In the Cut by Susanna Moore
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara (a total impulse purchase, but I still had one remaining gift card for Border's when we dropped in, yesterday)
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Beginner's Luck by Laura Pedersen
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
How Full is Your Bucket? by Rath and Clifton
Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
Judgment Day by Joe Lee
Sudden Sea by R. A. Scotti

Most of this pile came from Paperback Swap. I love Paperback Swap. The advanced reader copy of Rises the Night is one obvious exception; Colleen asked me if I'd be willing to review her latest and I'm still wondering if she could hear me jumping up and down. Well, of course I will. I loved The Rest Falls Away. You can see my review, here.

Joe Lee, author of Judgment Day, is my friend John Floyd's publisher (you can read about John, here) and we'd chatted by email when I bought a copy of John's book, Rainbow's End . . . getting tired of links, yet? Just one more! Here's my review of Rainbow's End. When my little family walked into Border's, I was surprised to see Joe sitting at a table, surrounded by his own books; I never made it to a single one of John's signings and I still feel awful about that. Anyway, I love reading a new author so, what the heck. Joe signed a book for me and I bought it. He also told me a great story about a woman who was apparently so terrified that Joe was going to chase her down and attempt to sell her something that she ran right into the 4-foot Harry Potter sign, sent it flying about 5 feet and nearly overbalanced. Gotta love it.

I told friends on one of my book lists I would try to scan a copy of one of my favorite photos of the kids taken during a time when the eldest was still significantly bigger than the youngest. Instead, I figured, what the heck - just whip out the camera and take a picture of the picture. I used to do that all the time. It's a little battered from 14 years of being stuck to the fridge, but I just love this photo because it's such a happy shot of both boys:


Movie time: We watched the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale, this afternoon, while folding laundry. I'm not a big James Bond fan because, while I love action (particularly when exercising on the Nordic Track - a good action flick gets the old heart pumping and makes time fly), Bond movies tend to have at least one really nasty, cruel character and some annoying violence, which just isn't my cup of tea. Casino Royale is no exception, but I enjoyed it, if only because I thought Daniel Craig was so believable as a character who is suave one minute and dodging bullets the next. Whew, boy, that man can run! The only thing I really missed was the levity of the typical "gadget man". Those moments with Desmond Llewelyn (Q) and John Cleese (R) touting their latest inventions have always been among my favorites.

Reading wise: I hope to finish The Moon on a Stick, tonight and have a review posted by tomorrow night. This has been a terribly slow reading weekend, for me. I think it's about time to turn off the computer and curl up with the book.

Bookfool in search of a cushy chair