Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art by Christopher Moore | LibraryThing

Moore, C. (2012). Sacre bleu: A comedy d’art. New York: William Morrow. 9780061779749

My mom saw a book review in the Houston Chronicle. Then, she requested the book via HCPL. After its arrival, I’m inclined to follow suit.

Theatrical release poster | Wikipedia

Fincher, D., Rudin, S., Zaillian, S., Wallen, M., Faurbye, F. A., Søndberg, O., Stærmose, S., … Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm). (2012). The girl with the dragon tattoo. Culver City, Calif: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Reasons for Watching: I read all three books in The Millennium Trilogy over the summer. Since I didn’t make it to the cinema to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I requested the DVD via HCPL.

Summary : The paths of convicted journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) and young, asocial computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) cross as Blomkvist works to “write” the biography of wealthy patriarch Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). Really, Vanger wants Blomkvist to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Vanger’s grandniece, Harriet (Moa Garpendal). As Blomkvist and Salander collaborate, they uncover the ugly truth of one of Sweden’s richest families.  

Book to Movie Adaptation : The movie followed the first book quite faithfully. There were a couple of changes, of course. Yet, I’m not going to post those here as they took place in middle or latter part of the movie. I wish the plot line concerning Harriet Vanger hadn’t been skewed. Otherwise, I was happy.

Review : After reading the books, I was really excited to see the movie. I was uncertain about some of the actors but it was all good. I was riveted to the screen. Maybe I was rubber necking.

Three Out of Five Pearls 

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

 

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here will answer. Everyone is welcome to join! All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It’s a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

 

Future Top Ten Tuesday topics are posted here.

 

Today’s TTT is a little bit different than usual:  it’s non-book related.  I don’t think we’ve had a Top Ten list not related to books, reading or anything literary before?  

 

Learn more and check out the TTT schedule.

1. FM STRIDERS | 8 WEEKS HEALTH AND WELLNESS CHALLENGE
2. Stormie Holguin 
3. Shiftless Chef
4. Amy Coffin’s Genealogy Site
5. GeneaBloggers
6. Ancestry.com | Blog
7. Lisa’s History Room
8. Weezer
9. Deep Breath Ministries
10. Tallowood Baptist Church

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis | LibraryThing

Ellis, J. J., & Runger, N. (2001). Founding brothers: The revolutionary generation. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books. 9781402505393

Reasons for Reading:  I found the book on the shelf at the HCPL branch where I work. Partially inspired by my girlhood crush on Thomas Jefferson (or was it Ken Howard playing Jefferson in 1776?), I checked out this audiobook. The first copy I borrowed had a scratch so I had to request another copy. The bottom line, though, I eventually got to read this book!

Summary: In shades of Paul Harvey ”The Rest of the Story,” Ellis tells of the relationships between those the United States often refers to as the Founding Fathers – John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. Ellis pinpoints six different moments which exhibit these relationships in their truest form. These include:

Burr and Hamilton’s deadly duel, and what may have really happened; Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison’s secret dinner, during which the seat of the permanent capital was determined in exchange for passage of Hamilton’s financial plan; Franklin’s petition to end the “peculiar institution” of slavery–his last public act–and Madison’s efforts to quash it; Washington’s precedent-setting Farewell Address, announcing his retirement from public office and offering his country some final advice; Adams’s difficult term as Washington’s successor and his alleged scheme to pass the presidency on to his son; and finally, Adams and Jefferson’s renewed correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their different views of the Revolution and its legacy.   

- Joseph J. Ellis

Using these events, Ellis supports his claim that these men squabbled as though they were siblings.

What I Liked : Ellis excelled at filling in the blanks as he could. He rendered great portraits of these greats. I knew very little about Aaron Burr other than the “Got Milk?” commercial.

What I Disliked : I wasn’t crazy about the hopping around with the book. I wished Ellis had stayed closer to the original sequence of events.

Three Out of Five Pearls

Song: ‪But Mr. Adams – 1776 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – YouTube

Setting: Thirteen Colonies, The USA

You might also like:

• Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
• Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis
• Wolf By the Ears by Ann Rinaldi

• Book review: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation | Dark side of the moon
• Masonic Renaissance: Book Review: Founding Brothers
• Book review—The Founding Brothers | James Russell Ament

I met Beverly B. several years ago at my old church.  I liked Beverly right away as we’re both cat people and readers. Later, Beverly and I found ourselves in the same Bible Study group. As she often remains quiet in larger groups, I do listen when she speaks up. Read on and see what I’m saying!

1. What’s the best thing you’ve read in the past year?        

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah

Beverly and Her Granddaughter Enjoy A Book

Addison Allen

2. Do you have any quirks when it comes to reading? 

I really enjoy a good love story but I don’t want a blow by blow account of any sexual activities.  Leave something to the imagination.  I really like stories that are in eras gone by.

3. What’s on your bookshelf or in your book bag?  

The Hunger Games Trilogy, Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

4. Who supplies your reading material?   

Amazon.com via Kindle

5. What type of reading do you usually enjoy?  

Novels with a good plot that I can’t figure out with a little love story to them

6. Who are some authors that you read regardless of anything? 

John Grisham, Diana Gabaldon

7. What’s on your TBR (to be read) list?  

The Litigators by John Grisham, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

8. Can you recall a book that changed your life? How so? 

Actually it is a series of books by Philippa Carr that follows a family from the time of Queen Elizabeth I through World War II.  The first book is The Lion Triumphant, and continues on with 10 more books.  At the time I originally read these I was going through a difficult time in my life and trying to deal with how to handle death.  These books helped me to accept that we all have to die, that death is a part of life. 

9. What was something you enjoyed reading as a child? 

Greek Mythology

10. Where do you like to read? 

Prefer to be laying down on my daybed with a really soft blanket and a comfortable feather pillow

11. Other than reading, what do you like doing? 

Going to church, listening to music, working in the garden, mosaic and playing on the computer.  Want to learn weaving when I move to the country

12. Where can we find you online? 

Facebook

13. Would you like to make a shout out to any other avid readers that are online? 

Don’t have anyone in particular to shout out to but I enjoy getting ideas about authors I might want to check out.

14. How about sharing five random facts about you? 

Like alternative rock music, love my cat, can’t wait to retire next year, born on Friday the 13th, won first place in a beauty contest when I was 5 years old

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

Learn more and check out the TTT schedule.

This week was scheduled to be Top Ten Authors I’d Like To See On A Reality Show but I got a lot of feedback about how HARD it was…so maybe not as good as an idea as I initially thought! SO..I opened it up as a Freebie Week but I decided to stick with the topic!

1. Suzanne Collins – Survivor
2. John Grisham – The Apprentice
3. Mary Higgins Clark – The Amazing Race
4. Carol Higgins Clark – The Amazing Race
5. Stephen King – Fear Factor
6. Anna Godbersen – Manor House
7. Stephanie Perkins – Project Runway
8. Sarah Addison Allen – Top Chef
9. Jude Deveraux – The Bachelor
10. Dave Barry – America’s Got Talent

Maurice Sendak is Running Where the Wild Things Are.

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

1. John 3:16
2. “But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it. I been there before.” – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3. “Curiouser and curiouser” – Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
4. “”It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
5. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”  Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
6. “The truth was, I was suspicious of anybody who liked to sit in judgment of another. . .” – The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
7. “If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”  Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
8. “Politics in a literary work, is like a gun shot in the middle of a concert, something vulgar, and however, something which is impossible to ignore.” The Red and the Black by Stendhal
9. “Respect… is appreciation of the separateness of the other person, of the ways in which he or she is unique.”  Annie Gottlieb
10. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” – Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Firm | Wikipedia

Cruise, T., Hackman, G., Tripplehorn, J., Davis, J., Rudin, S., Pollack, S., Paramount Pictures Corporation., … Mirage Productions. (2000). The firm. Hollywood, Calif.: Paramount.

Reasons for Watching: I saw the movie around the time it came out . . . on VHS. When I eventually picked up the audiobook, I discovered I was comparing it to a movie I’d thought I’d forgotten. Well, this time, I requested and checked it out from HCPL.

Summary : Young Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) is ready to reap what he has sown. After years of sacrifice, he will graduate from Harvard Law and work in the prosperous world of tax law. When he’s approached by Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a prestigious Memphis law firm, he cannot turn down their offer. So, he and his lovely wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn) soon move to Memphis. The Firm assigns Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) to be his mentor.  

Things are dandy. The McDeeres receive a house, a car, and lots of dough. Then, two associates at The Firm mysteriously die and the FBI contacts Mitch. At this point, the McDeeres find themselves in a waking nightmare.  

Book to Movie Adaptation : A number of events from the book didn’t make it to the movie. For a rather exhaustive list of the differences, check out this link at Wikipedia. I don’t want to spoil the ending of either work.  

Review : After reading the book, I imagined Mitch McDeere being more like Josh Lucas than Tom Cruise. Nonetheless, I consider this one of Cruise’s best roles. It amused me to see him tower over the petite Holly Hunter. Also, interaction between Avery and Abby only took place in the movie. I could’ve done without that.   

Three Out of Five Pearls 

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell | LibraryThing

Powell, J. (2005). Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen. New York: Little, Brown and Co. 9780316109697

Reasons for Reading:  I’m no gourmet but I enjoyed watching cooking shows on PBS ever since I can remember. One of those heroic translators of French cuisine was the unforgettable Julia Child. She empowered people nationwide to  Since this book was about the experiences of a blogger working her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I decided I wanted to read Julie and Julia someday. A couple of years ago, I heard Julie Powell speak at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference. I found the book on the shelf at the HCPL where I work.

Summary: As secretarial government drone Julie Powell eyes her approaching thirtieth birthday, she yearns for something to do. While visiting her family in Austin, Texas, Julie eyes her mom’s copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This sighting inspires Julie to work her way through 524 recipes in a year and blog about her experiences. 

What I Liked : I enjoyed the mention of Samuel Pepys and the segments from Julia and Paul Child. I also liked reading about Austin, Texas, the capital of my home state. The following Julie’s blog built amazed me. It’s impressive how these kind souls even sent her foodstuffs when she remarked on wanting something.

What I Disliked : I didn’t care much for Julie. This fact alone really colored my opinion of the book. I wanted to know more the actual blogging and how it became so lucrative for her. I didn’t find much of that here. Unfortunately I saw the movie before I read the book and that disappointed me as well. Maybe my expectations are too high. 

Two Out of Five Pearls

Song: ‪The French Chef Theme Song

Setting: New York City, Austin Texas, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Paris, Boston

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• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• I’m the One that I Want by Margaret Cho

• What Could Happen?
• Jules’ Book Reviews: Book Review: Julie & Julia
• In The Next Room: Book Review: Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
• - simmer down! {a food lover’s blog}