Category: Books

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Women v. Women

Women’s worst enemy? Other women. NYPost exposes Valerie Jarrett and Michelle O behind HRC email leaks. And other intrigues emanating out of the feminist wing. Beware women’s rights advocates. They are all for your rights unless you are wrong. Hillary not liberal enough. Yes, they like another woman, Elizabeth Warren. But, they are backing Martin O’Malley, too. I know. I plead guilty. And don’t even talk to Maureen Dowd. Ouch! Most scathing anti-Hillary column ever. Should be interesting Morning Mika tomorrow. She overtly pushes the Valerie-Michelle-Warren agenda to promote her book and lecture series.

And… just finished the number one best seller The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins. Weak women. Bad men. Yawn. Three needy, vulnerable competing current women tell their stories around an English train track. Intriguing literary device. Reductive in the end.

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Hello Doilies

Remember those doily mats with hearts glued on them? Valentines in grammar school. That’s cool. After that, not. Grown girlies in hoody footies having 50 shades of grey with life-sized Teddy Bears on Saturday. Yuk. Play cloying Sam Smith googly eyes ripoff of Tom Petty’s I won’t back down. Yuk. Women have lost decades of liberation and respect. Men acting like twits buying expensive wilted flowers and overpriced bad dinners for what? Teddy in the middle.

Speaking of ripoffs. Just finished The Devil You Know by Canadian author Elisabeth de Mariaffi. Her debut novel is a literary thriller. The writing is crisp and clean, and the mystery has its moments, but the young reporter is so silly and the ending so lame as to ruin it. Sorry. Anybody read a great book lately?

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Addled Reads

Addie. Ada. Adelaide. Women-y novels. Not my fave.

The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant. Syrupy story about a Jewish family pre-WWI in Boston. The smart, cute daughter of three, Addie Baum’s luck was incredible as she escaped the critical eye and neglect of her financially struggling immigrant parents to be welcomed into a high class world with summer trips to Rockport. What?  Yiddish terms seemed forced with a smattering of contextual history. Very light read indeed. **

The Magician’s Lie, by Greer Macallister. Reminiscent of World of Wonders. Turn of the century in America. It’s about Ada, who becomes Arden a female magician, protégée of the first, Adelaide. Boyfriend manager far-fetched. No character came to life except for Ray who was stalker evil. If someone wants to do you harm, the only way to escape is through magic or murder. Ending hard to swallow, like a bad fire-eater. A pretty good escape on a snowy weekend. ***

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Post Stuffington 2014

Scattered family this year. KrankyKristmas will reunite all factions.

It is complicated to be a young American man anything other than white. Unless you’ve lived it, you can’t understand it. Charles Blow makes it clearer. But, still. We never will. Author Harlen Coben’s familiar experience at a Barnes & Noble in Holyoke 2005 . Take our blessings as they come.

Unusually interesting football games on Thanksgiving. Too bad they were all lopsided. Mark Sanchez had a resurrection. More like Easter. Kaepernick is stu…not smart. Harbaugh lousy time manager. Seahawks sleazy. Go Green Bay.

Winter Header Photo: G. Levine. Shelburne, Massachusetts
Snow: WordPress

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E Trades

Emotional trade-offs. Ian McEwan’s The Children Act is packed full of them. An English family law judge struggles with making the best of lousy situations. She is a detached woman, necessary for her work yet it spills over into her marriage. A study of rigid religious and social constructs so easily shattered. One simple word or gesture can change everything. The novel is ultimately unsettling.

Ebola trades. Science vs. psychology. Quarantines overly constrain. Self-monitoring causes strange side effects like having a hankering to get on a cruise ship, airplane, or subway train. The major issue is resources. Hospital staff, law enforcement to track down potential contacts, proper facilities. Exponentially expensive. In the meantime, stay away from those e-bowling shoes.

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Shocking Strands

Pope Francis made an earth-shattering revelation. He actually took a page from the Good Book. God loves all those who love each other. Now Catholics can, too.

Doctors should not be spokespersons for Ebola messaging. Medical speak can be both inflammatory and misunderstood. Panic ensues. And speaking of shocks. Pauley Perrette, an actress on NCIS had a severe allergic reaction to her black hair dye. It can be deadly. Ring. Ring.

If you believe your Master Card debt is held at the savings & loan around the corner, read Jake Halpern’s new book Bad Paper. Even small community banks are bundling and selling off assets. So, don’t expect your nice neighbor at the customer service desk to call you when your payment is late.

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Foto Finish

Rory took the reins and galloped to the finish line in the dark at Valhalla to win the PGA. If he could have played through, he would have. Then, after he trampled the field, he thanked them for their sportsmanship. Cunning, tough, smart. Have to admire Mickelson’s class. He could have complained about being rushed. He was. But, note to golfers. Play faster! Works for Rory.

During rain delays at the PGA, read a disturbing psychological novel. Hell hath no fury like a daughter scorned. Hell too cool for Harriet Lane’s horrible Nina in Her.  Personification of veiled hatred and evil. If only Joan Crawford were around to play the lead. She is the only one who could. Chilling read.

Great Ray Donovan tonight. Sweet tableau of familial bliss. Ha!

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Get Away

Maureen Dowd addresses the Cannes Lions about storytelling. Best and brightest global MadMen amass on the Côte d’Azur as the world wrestles with another blunder into Iraq. Could it be that Biden was right? PartitionStan. Hillary and Barack are holding Town Halls today. What will they say?

Joey3Sticks will play with the Yankees this afternoon. Yup. The Bronx Bombers, not the BoSox. World turned upside down?  Fargo finale and then… bringing an old SanFran friend’s novel to read on the beach. Clam Bar, Ho! À bientôt.

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Too Big Yet Failed

The Perfect Prey, The Fall of ABN AMRO, or What Went Wrong in the Banking Industry, by Jeroen Smit. I came across this book, written by a Dutch investigative journalist, by chance. After the recent tragic murder-suicide by former CEO Schmittmann was reported in the NY Post, I did some research as an ABN AMRO alum, and one of its former Managing Directors. I found the paperback and it read like a novel. Here is my Amazon review:

‘A stilted translation to English may be some of the reason for my 3 stars. But, the story was well told and compelling- the demise of a once prestigious global financial institution, ABN, which prided itself on being a member of each community it served in over 70 countries, rivaling only Citibank. When the corrupt AMRO merged with ABN, began le deluge. I became unwittingly embroiled in an unethical transaction with the saga’s central character, AMRO’s R. Groenink. A lot of the players are known to me from my tenure at the Bank in San Francisco and Boston in the 80’s and 90’s. Lex Kloosterman was my boss. After I retired, he went on to Fortis and was instrumental in the tale and ultimate sale. There is probably not a wide audience for this book. I would recommend it as an allegory- too big yet failed. A moral tragedy.’

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Monday Verde

St. Patty’s Day. Go Green. ZooMass in the bracket race. Nothing new in the world. Malaysian plane is still missing. Crimea is still part of Russia. Don’t care about South African murder case. Eschewing stale TV, retreated to reading.

Finally finished The Deptford Trilogy. Last novel, my favorite, World of Wonders, is a tragic intricate tale told by kidnapped boy turned magician. It takes us from the depths of Deptford, Ontario to London, Paris, the mountains of Switzerland. The most colorful book of the three, life in carnivals and theaters explores human frailties that manifest in good and evil. Full review on TrekBooks. Good writing stands the test of time. Thanks for the journey, PithyV.