September 3, 2020 at 1:48 am (Books, Lists, Recommended, short story collections)
Tags: biographies, book lists, COVID Reading, historical novel, humor, literary awards, nonfiction, novel, reading lists
These are exciting times. Self is reading The Charterhouse of Parma (Brilliant and funny and moving).
Five on her ‘To-Read’ List
July 27, 2020 at 4:10 pm (Conversations, Recommended, short story collections, television)
Tags: adaptations, COVID Reading, Justified, Mondays, nostalgia, summer, Timothy Olyphant
He watched Dewy Crowe bring a pump shotgun out of the trunk and start back this way, all business now, his mind made up, his dumb pride taking him to a place it would be hard to back out of.
. . . Raylan in his shirtsleeves, Dewey Crowe taking careful steps now, holding the shotgun out in front of him.
“Mr. Crowe? Listen, you better hold on there while I tell you something.”
It stopped him about fifty feet away, his shoulders hunched.
“I want you to understand,” Raylan said, “I don’t pull my sidearm ‘less I’m gonna shoot to kill. That’s it’s purpose, huh, to kill. So it’s how I use it.”
— Fire in the Hole
July 27, 2020 at 3:52 pm (Recommended, short story collections, television)
Tags: adaptations, COVID Reading, Justified, nostalgia, performances, praise, short story, summer, Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins
Since self is currently reading Fire in the Hole, she’s on a Justified nostalgia kick.
Lookit these two! The hottest dudes on TV for six glorious seasons:
Timothy Olyphant as US Marshal Raylan Givens; Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder
Chemistry between these two was high, every encounter struck sparks.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
July 26, 2020 at 8:34 pm (Books, short story collections, Sundays, Surprises)
Tags: COVID Reading, reading lists, short story, summer
Hot, hot day. Still reading Elmore Leonard’s “Fire in the Hole”.
Trigger Warning: white supremacy, ‘niggers,’ spray-painting synagogues. Elmore Leonard could have been writing about today.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
July 26, 2020 at 4:03 pm (Books, Recommended, short story collections, television)
Tags: COVID Reading, Justified, reading lists, short story, summer, Sundays
The title story:
They had dug coal together as young men and then lost touch over the years. Now it looked like they’d be meeting again, this time as lawman and felon, Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder.
Boyd did six years in a federal penitentiary for refusing to pay his income tax, came out and found religion. He received his ordination by mail order in South Carolina and formed a sect he called Christian Aggression. The next thing he did, Boyd formed the East Kentucky Militia with a cadre of neo-Nazi skinheads, a bunch of boys wearing Doc Martens and swastika tattoos. They were all natural-born racists and haters of authority, but still had to be taught what Boyd called “the laws of White Supremacy as laid down by the Lord,” which he took from Christian identity doctrines. Next thing, he trained these boys in the use of explosives and automatic weapons. He told them they were now members of Crowder’s Commandos, sworn to take up the fight for freedom against the coming Mongrel World Order and the government’s illegal tax laws.
That’s some opening. Probably one of the best short story openings ever.
So Boyd Crowder was a neo-Nazi skinhead? Somehow, this little fact escaped self’s mind when she was watching the show. Or perhaps they downplayed it for the adaptation, to make Boyd more likeable.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
July 25, 2020 at 2:32 am (Food and Drink, Lists, Salon.com, short story collections, television)
Tags: adaptations, COVID Reading, Fridays, Justified, memories, noir, reading lists, short story, summer, Timothy Olyphant
Reading Elmore Leonard’s Chickasaw Charlie Hoke.
There is a “big redhead” named Vernice, looking “like a strawberry sundae in her La-Z-Boy.”
There is “bourbon over crushed ice.”
There are mentions of “a pit boss at Bally’s,” a waitress at the Isle of Capri coffee shop.
There is an “RV in a trailer park on the outskirts of Tunica, Mississippi.”
Very fun reading Elmore Leonard. It brings back all the FEELZ about Justified, the F/X series that ran for six seasons and had Timothy Olyphant! Timothy Olyphant! Who Salon’s TV reviewer described as “one tall, cool drink of water”!
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
July 24, 2020 at 3:53 am (Conversations, Lists, short story collections)
Tags: COVID Reading, noir, reading lists, summer
Reading Elmore Leonard’s “Sparks.”
There must be gin.
There must be a rich widow who knows how to roll a joint.
There must be a detective of a certain age (and he must be a Jim or a Joe)
There must be dialogue like this:
“But, basically, Joe, we got together the way people usually do, and fell in love.”
“He was a lot older than you.”
“What you’re asking now, did I marry him for his money. Sure, that had a lot to do with it. But I liked him.”
It is summer, it is summer, it is summer. Summer and noir go together like white on rice.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
July 9, 2020 at 1:23 am (Books, short story collections, television)
Tags: adaptations, COVID Reading, favorites, Justified, memories, nostalgia, performances, praise, reading lists, Redwood City, short story, summer, The Emmys, Timothy Olyphant
Self checked out a collection of Elmore Leonard short stories from the Redwood City Public Library early this year. She hasn’t managed to get to it yet. COVID happened, and then self’s mind flew out the window.
This afternoon, while browsing through her stack of “To Read” books, she encountered the Elmore Leonard collection, and immediately turned to the title story.
Opening line:
omg!
Justified!
Timothy Olyphand and Walton Goggins! Those two actors were born to play Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder. Did either of the two ever win an Emmy? Did the show itself ever win an Emmy? For the six years of its run, self doesn’t think she ever skipped an episode.
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
July 7, 2020 at 7:31 am (Books, Lists, Personal Bookshelf, Recommended, short story collections, Women Writers)
Tags: book lists, COVID Reading, English writers, fantasy, nonfiction, novel, reading lists, science fiction, summer
Self had an unbelievable string of great reads, in the spring. Here were the books she read:
After that run, she stumbled on The Expanse, and has so far read four novels in the series (The ninth is supposed to appear either this year or next. Ha!), all of them super-engaging. Highly recommend!
Stay safe, dear blog readers. Stay safe.
June 28, 2020 at 4:17 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Filipino Writers, Personal Bookshelf, short story collections, Sundays, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Asian American Writers, Stanford
A copy is in Green Library.
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