Quote of the Day----Goodreads

Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep—it can't be done abruptly.
Colm Tóibín
Happy birthday, Colm Tóibín! The Irish novelist has said he'd like to be buried in his favorite writing room, surrounded by the books he loves.

If you haven't read anything by Colm, you are missing a real treat.  His writing is marvelous.  Hope you will give him a try.

Quote of the Day-----Goodreads

I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen.
John Steinbeck
May 28, 1935: John Steinbeck's first successful novel, Tortilla Flats, was published 80 years ago today. The book borrowed from Arthurian legend to tell the story of a group of paisanos in the years after WWI.



Perhaps we should all stop and consider this, maybe we would have a better world if we just acknowledged with a smile or "hi" to that person walking towards us.

Have a Happy Day!

2nd Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, film

Saw this over the Memorial day weekend.  Fun, not as good as the original, however, very enjoyable, and the music was great.

Quote of the Day------Goodreads

Fiction is art and art is the triumph over chaos… to celebrate a world that lies spread out around us like a bewildering and stupendous dream.
John Cheever
American novelist John Cheever (born May 27, 1912) was not a good student in high school. His grades were extremely poor, but he channeled the negative experience into writing. The result, a short story called Expelled, was published when Cheever was 18.

Vera, an English tv series

Yet another "ITV" detective series.  We discovered this one several months ago.

Brenda Blethyn portrays Vera, a most unusual female DCI, in this series. She gets the job done with the help of Joe, her "side-kick".

This series ranks up there with DCI Banks, and George Gently.  What we enjoy about this, there is not a lot of gruesome stuff shown.

Eric Bibb

How often do you come across not just one, but two really interesting musicians in a very short period of time?  Not that often.

I should have written about Eric Bibb first, however, Alan was still "singing" in my mind, so that was why I wrote about him.

On to Eric - he has been singing for 4 decades!?  Well, he never was on my radar, until my best friend sent me 2 of his CDs.

Listening to his music is refreshing, and highly enjoyable. Couldn't quite figure who he reminded me of, something about his style jogged my memory of the late Eva Cassidy (what a loss to the music world), and then just a few days after the loss of the great B.B. King, it occurred to me that there was just a hint of the great master's style in Eric's music - so if you are a fan of either of these two late musicians, you very well might enjoy Eric, that is if you haven't already discovered him.

Hope you will consider Eric.

American Sniper, a film based on Chris Kyle

Unless you have been living under a rock, or on a desert island, for the past several months, you should have heard of the film American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle.

We watched this film last night - never moving until its conclusion.  Even knowing how Chris died - murdered - I was just overcome with grief.  Lots of tissues.

No wonder so many of our current crop of young veterans suffer from PTS - what they saw on a daily basis, losing their comrades, never knowing if and when a bullet, grenade or rocket fire would get them, and never knowing if that woman or child walking towards them was an innocent bystander or a threat to them.  

Bradley Cooper gave a powerful performance as Chris.  Earlier this year, I had heard Bradley and Chris's wife being interviewed on NPR, that interview was amazing, and I knew that we would have to see the movie.

R rated for language, violence and sexual references.