one book leads to another
In which a movie sends me back 44 years and a show dupes me into reading a really good book. The Books: The Amateur by Robert Littell, published in 1981. (The movie premiered in April 2025.) Zero Day by David Baldacci, published in 2011. (No, not that Zero Day (Taiwanese thriller). No, not that Zero … Continue reading Hero Complex / Complex Heroes
Good Catholic fun Are you as big a fan of movies as you are of books? Me too, although I haven't been to the theater in a while. I'd rather watch in the comfort of my own home, thank you very much. Conclave (the movie) caught my eye because 1) I adore Ralph Fiennes and … Continue reading Conclave
In which tables are turned and to lose the case is to lose everything I couldn't escape Jake Gyllenhaal's face this summer, the ads for Presumed Innocent on Netflix were everywhere. But since Harrison Ford > Jake Gyllenhaal I decided to watch the 1990 movie instead. Alas, the library DVD froze midway through. It felt … Continue reading Not that innocent
With all the books in the world is it a sin to reread an old favorite? Answer: NO. It's been a while and it's not that I haven't been reading, I just haven't been reviewing. Maybe it's the fall or maybe it's the crop of books I can't wait to get lost in, but I'm … Continue reading Comfort Reading or What I did this summer
What can I say about Where the Crawdads Sing that hasn't been said before? For four years you've heard the hype; you've seen the movie (or at least the trailer); you may have even heard about the controversy surrounding the author. And you still haven't read it? Okay, let me convince you. First, I'm still … Continue reading Where the Crawdads Sing
Hindsight is everything and Lawrence Wright knows it. Wright is the author of The Looming Tower, a methodical and sweeping history that's so engaging and interesting you feel guilty for enjoying it. He published it in 2006, won the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction for it in 2007, and it was made into a mini-series … Continue reading The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11
I love how one thing will lead to another, and another, and suddenly I'm exposed to things I never sought out, things I never would have stumbled upon. Especially with books and movies / shows. I recently read an eerily current thriller about a global pandemic called The End of October (review: https://bookthrasher.com/2020/12/04/the-end-of-october/). When I … Continue reading One thing leads to another
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